Main Topics 

Counter Argument

The counter-argument on why mental health shouldn't be provided in schools is mostly based on students abusing these services. I don't see how students could ever abuse mental health services. They would be in schools as a way to support students and would be impossible to abuse. There were other concerns about privacy and concerns about how it should be up to the parents to decide if they allow their children to reach out to someone in the first place. I feel that there shouldn't be parent involvement and be up to the student to decide if they want to get the help they need. 

Interview Summary

Your personal opinion

Research paper

Do we want children in this generation to suffer more and more with mental health issues? It is a growing epidemic for students to go through anxiety and depression. The workload has especially been much more since after the pandemic. How can we get this under control? We should start at the issue and that is with school and home life. Students struggle with school and home and don't have the energy to be at school over an essay they may have or issues at home with family. I believe that we should incorporate mental health services in all U.S. schools for students to talk to someone without shame or fear.`

Mental health awareness has been around since 1949, 10 years after the great depression had occurred. During this time, psychiatric help was invented to help people suffering from mental health issues  such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, eating disorders and addictive behaviors. Even now in the current news, there have been rising cases of teen girls using ozpemic as a way to lose weight, even if the medicines intended to be used for people with type 2 diabetes. The medicine doesn't necessarily say that it is used for weight loss but many girls have developed eating disorders and are slowly starting to develop mental health issues. How could the adults in schools  that see children everyday do to help struggling teens?

Now in the present day, it has been proven to show that psychological help is recommended for everyone since it has been shown that having mental health issues has been a growing epidemic for people of all ages. According to U.S. News, “The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students for each counselor, but the nationwide average was 415 students per counselor in 2021. The numbers are even worse for school psychologists. While the National Association of School Psychologists recommends 1 psychologist for every 500 students, in some states the ratio is as high as 1 to 5,000.”

 Students should have access to mental health services at all schools to have someone to talk to rather than having to seek mental health screenings outside of schools. Students are in schools for a third of the day and it's similar to experiencing a job. They have stress, social lives, work, and some students don't know how to deal with everything going on in school and their personal lives. Who can they go to? Parents can be a resource but the long term solution isn't established in a place where students can rely on. 

What could be the reason we don't have mental health services at school in the first place? Are schools just disinterested in having these services in place? The funds are the problem. According to KFF, “Just over half of schools reported receiving funding for mental health services from district or school funds (57%) or federal grants or programs (52%), while smaller shares of schools reported funding from partnerships with organizations (37%) or state programs (32%). At the federal level, many schools receive support through the Department of Education – including grant programs and the Every Student Succeeds Act – and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).” How could this not be a main priority of schools around the U.S.? It is a no-brainer for schools to incorporate this into school. Mental health should be seen the same way as physical health. Students don't always have someone trusted to go to or are scared to tell their feelings to someone. The funding for mental health services and SEL classes to help cope with anxiety would be put to good use. 

Where do children even start with mental health services? School is a great way to receive resources for anything and doesn't even have to be connected to the school. According to Chicago Han, “School-based mental health is becoming a vital part of student support systems. Schools have the natural ability to promote positive mental health by building self-confidence and self-esteem. They also play a vital role in providing or connecting children, youth, and families to services.” These services could easily connect with the school and medical attention. Social workers and psychologists at schools have experience with cases where students struggle with talking to someone about what may be going on in their lives and may not know how to overcome the fear of talking to a professional. This also offers a long term solution to the problem since a student could easily talk to someone without having to worry about where to begin with the problems they may have. 

Although some experts believe that mental health services may say that mental health services are a bad idea to incorporate in the schools and how it may have privacy issues with each student but there always is room for improvement and a way to resolve these issues. According to The Hechinger Report, “The recent expansion of offerings has spurred more discussion about the ethics involved in supporting students – how much schools and mental health should intersect and where the guardrails should be. A school board in Killingly, Connecticut, for example, this year drew the line at allowing the superintendent to establish a mental health clinic in a high school.” There isn't anything ethically wrong with having a mental health clinic in schools, it brings in positivity and validates the feelings of the students. We don't need kids in this generation thinking their feelings are invalid or that they have nowhere to go. Schools are in close proximity to the students and make it reliable for them. There shouldn't be an issue for them to be able to receive help from a professional. 

In conclusion, I am pretty confident that having mental health services/clinics accessible in schools around the country would propose a great benefit to the student body. Mental health issues are rising with people ages 14-24. Once schools incorporate these services and SEL classes, it will create a long term solution for students to have someone to talk to and have ways to control their anxiety, depression, eating disorders, etc.. Taking the steps to fix this from the start of the problem will create a safer environment for students to be more open about talking to someone without any shame or fear to speak out about their feelings.

Sources