Stress, alienation, substance abuse, a lack of belonging, pressure from high expectations.
Those are among the problems a group of high school student leaders say they鈥檙e ready to tackle head-on. But they aren鈥檛 just naming the issues; they鈥檙e also coming up with solutions to take to their peers and principals.
The pandemic has severely affected youth mental health, and school and district administrators often cite students鈥� well-being as a major concern as they strive for normalcy. But too often, students aren鈥檛 asked for their ideas on how to confront the challenges. And they have lots of ideas: mental health days for students and faculty, student-led professional development for teachers, hiring more women as school leaders, sessions on coping skills, promoting mindfulness and self-care, and providing on-campus quiet rooms and private spaces for students.
A mental health summit called by the National Association of Secondary School Principals earlier this month aims to change the dynamic that excludes students entirely or includes them only superficially in problem solving. The organization brought together nearly 50 students to the summit in Arlington, Va., along with adult advisers from their schools to brainstorm solutions.
鈥楽tressed out鈥� and 鈥榦verworked鈥�
During the summit, El O鈥橬eill and Nicole Sanchez鈥檚 team from Cardinal Spellman High School, a Roman Catholic school in Brockton, Mass., identified stress as the major problem they鈥檇 like to zero in on.
鈥淚t was easy to see that, across the board, our school is very stressed out and we鈥檙e overworked,鈥� O鈥橬eill, a junior, said. 鈥淭his is how we see it and feel it.鈥�
The group and their two adult advisers batted around a few ideas: a quiet room for students to decompress; mental health days for students and staff; additional therapists; more time and activities outside the classroom.
They settled on mental health days, in part, because it was universal and easiest to implement of all the options they鈥檇 considered. Hiring therapists costs money.
鈥淲e just kind of have the idea of students and faculty members taking a day that they feel is necessary for them is extremely important in order for them to keep succeeding academically and not only that, but mentally,鈥� Sanchez said.
Joint PD with teachers to address discipline
Students from Oskaloosa High School in rural Oskaloosa, Iowa, chose discipline and disrespect as the problem they鈥檇 like to address.
Ava Ridenour, 15, a member of the school鈥檚 student council, said altercations and fights have increased in school and at after-school events during the pandemic.
The disruptions have left some students worried about their safety, she said.
鈥淛ust the anxiousness of coming to school or being worried that you鈥檙e not going to get to take in all of the learning that you need, or being worried about getting into a fight at school鈥攁ll those things they can lead to anxiety, which can then put you in such a dark place or make you have depression. It can just be a domino effect for other things,鈥� Ridenour said.
Students are in school about eight hours a day, so a safe learning environment is paramount for their mental well-being, said Lawson Morris, 17, an Oskaloosa High student who also serves as a facilitator for the NASSP鈥檚 student-leadership network on mental health.
鈥淓verybody is a creature of their environment, so the people we surround ourselves with have a major impact on our mental health,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o much of your life is spent at school, and if people around you are happy, then you are going to be happy. If people around are undisciplined and acting out, that鈥檚 going to [be] a reflection on you, and we really don鈥檛 want that, because we have a lot of good students in our school.鈥�
After jotting down on sticky notes possible reasons for the rise in disruptive and disrespectful behavior, the students settled on short PD sessions for teachers that would be led by students. Those sessions would give teachers an inside look on why students may be acting the way they were and suggest ways that teachers might respond.
鈥淲e have been in the classrooms; we empathize with [teachers],鈥� Morris said.
Elliot Nelson, 18, a member of Oskaloosa High鈥檚 student council, said students are looking to work in partnership with faculty.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want it to be a lengthy lecture,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淲e want it to be a collaborative discussion. We want it to inform them on recent events and how to handle [them].鈥�
Getting buy-in from school leaders
The tough task for the students who participated in the summit comes with going back to school, getting the blessing from their various student governments, then seeking approval from administrators鈥攊f the rest of the student body decides it鈥檚 the right direction.
The Oskaloosa students are hoping to speak to their district鈥檚 school board early next month, and they鈥檙e optimistic, but realistic, that teachers will be on board for the student-led professional-development sessions.
鈥淭here might be a couple of skeptical teachers, but I think that teachers will be extremely receptive,鈥� Morris said.
Carrie Bihn, a teacher who accompanied the students from Iowa, said she thinks most teachers will take to the students鈥� proposal.
鈥淚 think the buy-in from teachers will definitely be there,鈥� said Bihn, who has been at the school for about a decade. 鈥淗onestly, I think the teachers are going to love learning from the kids, because they are the ones with the insights into how the teenage brain ticks.鈥�
Bihn said it was 鈥渋ntriguing鈥� listening and watching the students brainstorm.
鈥淔rom top down, we hear student achievement, kids have got to pass classes and succeed,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd when kids were explaining what their issues were, it was way more personal. It was not what I was expecting. I really didn鈥檛 think the kids were going to say discipline and disrespect were the top two problems in our school. 鈥� Sometimes, I think only the adults see discipline in the district.鈥�
Eleanor Hurley, the director of health services who also serves as an adviser for Cardinal Spellman High School鈥檚 National Honor Society, and Jason Deramo, the director of campus ministry, who accompanied the Cardinal Spellman students, said they were not surprised by the topics their students chose to home in on.
鈥淚t was eye-opening to see it from the students鈥� perspective for sure,鈥� Hurley said. 鈥淏ut we have been seeing stress and anxiety across settings, with not only students but adults as well. This is something that鈥檚 a hot button right now, a hot topic, and I think the students addressed it with great maturity and expertise. I was very impressed with them.鈥�
While the Cardinal Spellman High School students listed the quiet room for students to decompress as their second most viable solution and something to follow up on later, Daniel Hodes, the president and head of school, appeared amenable to the idea.
There are already areas on campus where students could seek assistance, such as the nurse鈥檚 office, the campus ministry office, a chapel, and a renovated counseling suite. But Hodes said he recognizes that not everyone is comfortable going into those spaces.
鈥淗aving a fifth space, which would be another opportunity for students to be able to find peace in the day鈥攁bsolutely,鈥� he said. Hodes said he was also open to his students鈥� priority solution鈥攎ental health days.
鈥淥ur faculty and staff have personal days available to them for those reasons, but our students are not afforded those same days,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a worthwhile pitch and I am excited to hear the full pitch when the kids are done with it.鈥�
That was good news for Sanchez and O鈥橬eill.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really nice to hear that our ideas are being taken seriously, because as teenagers鈥攁t least for me鈥擨 feel like a lot of times, I鈥檓 sort of brushed off because I am so young,鈥� O鈥橬eill said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 nice to know that there are adults willing to listen and willing to take our ideas truly into consideration because we are living through a different time, especially after COVID.鈥�
Students said they learned a lot seeing what their peers around the country had recorded as the major mental health challenges at their schools. Some of the issues, like substance abuse, did not resonate with everyone.
鈥淚 remember thinking that鈥檚 a hard topic for high school students to take on,鈥� Nelson, the Iowa student, said.
But others topics were deeply familiar.
鈥淎 common theme that most people, in many schools, had was stress,鈥� Sanchez said. 鈥淪tress is something that causes a lot of other problems in schools, and it鈥檚 kind of like the root of everything. If you don鈥檛 really reduce that, you can鈥檛 get to the other problems.鈥�
Listening to students
The three-day mental health summit, which included panel discussions with students and experts, grew from the NASSP鈥檚 summer survey, which highlighted student mental health and the lack of resources in schools as major problem areas for school leaders, said Ann Postlewaite, the organization鈥檚 director of community. The organization hosts a once-a-month meeting with student leaders on mental health.
Postlewaite said more school leaders are leaning on students for their input on how to respond to these challenges because the students are 鈥渢he constituents; they are the people in the building.鈥�
The exercise to find a solution to a pressing problem was a learning experience for the adults, too.
Bihn, the Iowa teacher, was struck by the number of worksheets from the student groups that highlighted a version of isolation or lack of belonging as a major concern.
鈥淭hey all had some kind of issue listed [where] kids felt alone,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 am a fixer, so my first [thought] was like how do I fix this? How do we fix things?鈥�
