This article is the third of four in a series discussing student mental health.
One of the biggest things that is discussed among students in this country is mental health. We have begun to care more about mental health in regards to school and how students are feeling. There are often days where teachers take time out of their lessons to talk about mental health and check in with their students. One of the biggest suggestions now is to take a mental health day.
There are many opinions surrounding mental health days because there are many positives and negatives regarding days off, and students around the school have lots of thoughts about them.
When you generalize mental health days they can be seen as a very important and needed break. However, they can be used in ways that make it more difficult for people who really need to use them.
“I think the people who have it can abuse it for people who actually do need mental health days,” said eighth grader Emery Burch.
Sophomore Laura Stanfill uses her mental health days to catch up on sleep and relax with her mom. The day off is useful for making up homework and catching up in classes.
Stanfill says she also does “something to take my mind off of stuff” on her mental health day.
There is a general consensus that there needs to be something to help the declining mental health of teenagers in America. One of the biggest things students feel could help their mental health are changes in homework.
“Homework stresses you out and the more stressed you are, then your mental health is just down,” said Burch.
It is especially frustrating for students who are assigned homework that is seen as busy work. Hours are spent after school and some students see it as a waste of time.
Mental health days are very important for the people who use them correctly.
“Mental health should be observed in the same kind of perspetive as physical health in the fact that people sometimes need to recover,” said sophomore Katje Anthamatten.
