The Synergy Project Magazine - September 2020

THE
MENTAL
HEALTH
CRISIS IN IN IN IN
SCHOOLS
By: Lauren Daniels
A bubbly, outgoing student
goes home after a long day in
class and the mask melts away.
There is a secret world none of
us know about, and that is a
student’s life at home. According
to NPR, in the United States,
one out of every five children
within the public school student
body show signs of a mental
disorder, whether it be ADHD,
an eating disorder, or thoughts
of suicide. These students often
have difficulty learning and
miss out on both class time and
opportunities due to their mental
health (Anderson & Cardoza,
2016). When a student struggles,
it is often behind closed doors,
tucked mysteriously away in
secret. Depending on the victim
experiencing this mental turmoil,
signs can slip out and shine light
onto their pain and someone
takes action to assist them. In
different cases, the individual
comes forward willingly and
confesses their feelings to a
trusted adult or friend, receiving
support in return. Unfortunately,
for many others, they suffer
without it being noticeable;
nearly 80% of these students
never receive counseling of any
sort (NPR, 2016). It is a time
where mental illnesses are either
over-treated or under-treated
instead of the happy and healthy
medium.
Schools are legally
responsible for the safety of
their students, which is why
teenagers may not be in a
room by themselves without a
trusted adult or staff present.
These regulations are put in
place as a way to protect the
administration and the students’
physical wellbeing and safety.
This is even more evident when
presented with the fact that
there are plenty of schools
out there who provide free or
reduced-price lunch to students
along with mandatory physical
education. With these set in
stone, shouldn’t the institution be
further involved and responsible
for the students’ emotional
health as well as push for more
publicized and widespread
counseling? From the fifty high
school and university students I
surveyed, roughly 66% feel that
their school is responsible for
helping students with mental
health concerns, yet 76% feel
there is a lack of support from
their school.
The education system
can cause many pressures for
students; this burden is becoming
noticeable and too heavy for
them to bear. Schools have
made an attempt at promoting
mental health, but have
THE SYNERGY PROJECT MAGAZINE 15