Written by Kaden West, Staff Writer
Whether students should be provided with mental health counseling in schools is a new and rising topic in the media. Many parents would argue that their children don’t need therapy or say it would be a waste of time. Thus, the stress students are under often goes unnoticed.
Students in general have a large workload on their plates. They are expected to balance school, homework, extracurriculars, a social life, a job, time with their families, and somehow still have downtime for themselves.
In the chaos of all of this, it’s easy for students to fall into a spiral of struggle and negative emotions. According to Children’s Mental Health, 7.1 percent of children ages 3-17 (about 4.4 million) have diagnosed anxiety, and 3.2 percent of children ages 3-17 (about 1.9 million) have diagnosed depression. While the percentages seem small, the impact is huge. Millions of adolescents silently struggle while they attempt to maintain balance and also be successful in their lives.
Students struggling with their mental health often go unnoticed and untreated. They are often viewed by adults as being overly dramatic or hormonal because of their age. Parents don’t understand the real mental overload students are experiencing and how much risk their children are at when their struggle goes unnoticed. Medical professionals warn that untreated depression can ruin relationships, cause problems at work, and make it dif cult to overcome serious illnesses.
Depression should not be seen as such a controversial topic. Students should be able to talk about it with their parents and see professionals without shame so they can understand their feelings and nd healthy ways to cope.
Through therapy in school, the controversy of mental health can be abolished, and students can nd guidance towards achieving their goals while keeping their lives balanced. Therapy in schools would also help families that struggle financially. Not every family can afford to help their child by sending them through therapy. The average one- hour therapy session can range from $60 to $200 or more, and most therapists see their patients at least once a month.
If schools provide therapists for students to reach out to, they will be helping their students strive towards success and help teach them real-life coping skills.
Students need a space to be able to take a step back from all the chaos, and we need to continue to work towards helping them lead successful and functional lives.