Around the world mental health is taking differences between staff and students. 

Across the country, mental health challenges are the leading cause of disability and poor life outcomes in young people, according to the federal Department of Health and Human services. Unfortunately, in recent years, there have been significant increases in certain mental health disorders in youth, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. These challenges have been made worse by academic pressure and the need to keep up with demanding course works, said Tamia Vincent, a sophomore at Carver. 

“I know eight periods a day, tests come multiple times throughout one week, so that can be stressful or overwhelming  especially if you have a personal life outside of school” Tamia said.

But students are not the only people at Carver experiencing stress and anxiety. Teachers, including Mr. Leed, a science teacher at E&S, have to balance the demand of lesson planning and grading , while also attending the academic needs of students. 

“As a teacher, I'm always navigating the line between setting and maintaining high expectations and then at the same time being patient with students through their struggles”, Leed said . “When you have 30 students, class after class after class. It's overwhelming.”

”I feel like with school, it's a lot of pressure,” Akai said. “It's like, work on top of work on top of work. It’s like you have difficulty, like figuring out how to calm that stress down, how to deal with people who you are uncomfortable around, how to find ways to fit in, where it just adds on top of it. Like you can literally see students every day, maybe during a break or something, trying to sleep or take a rest because of how stressful it is."

Students and Staff should surround themselves with people who have been there for them, and being around people who are supportive and care about you can help you with your mental health.

“I know with a good support group or such as friends who you're able to be around, who are there to be able to help you and be able to, like, provide for you, like to stick by you. I think it does help for those who really need it.” Akai said.  

Students come to teachers they trust the most about struggles, but teachers try not to let it affect them because teachers can’t let their emotions get in the way.

“Students come to me with struggles, and it is impossible not to let that affect you, and I cannot provide everyone what they need, and that's a tough feeling being a teacher. It's a tough role we all have. So I try to keep teaching a subject while taking into account that we all have life trauma, events, and struggles that are going on, and it is not easy,”  Leed said.

The pandemic also affected teachers, causing them to experience stress, anxiety, and other trauma from the pandemic.  

“Teachers are experiencing high levels of stress, anxiety, and work-related trauma in the classroom – much of it stemming from student behavioral problems. The pandemic exacerbated this issue, impacting students and teachers alike.”, According to Lee Ann Rawlins Williams, a professor in health and behavior at the University of North Dakota.

Students and Staff around the world go through something emotionally, mentally, or physically, and will try to block it and pretend to be happy in front of their peers and co-workers so nobody will notice and question if they are okay. But the truth is that the more students and staff try to hide their emotions and keep pretending they are okay, it will build up to rage, self-destructed, breakdowns, doing something they might regret, or even suicides.

You never know what someone is going through unless you ask them deeply, we all as humans and community to fix mental health issues and try to improve it for the future generations and now.