As I’m sure many of you already know due to Dr. Radnitzers recent email, a new law has been put in place that students are able to take up to five mental health days. First of all; what exactly is a mental health day? A mental health day is essentially a “sick day,” but used for taking care of your mental health when you feel particularly stressed, anxious, depressed, etc. This new law brought up a question; is it a good thing that mental health days are being given to students?
Especially in these times, with the ongoing pandemic, I believe mental health days will prove to be very beneficial. With the state of our current school year, there are several challenges that students are facing. Some are struggling with the new transition to in-person learning, and school may be a major trigger for anxious feelings towards academics overall. Along with the pressure of in-person learning, some students might just be overwhelmed with work. Being in sports or other extracurriculars means they lose a major chunk of time from their day that could otherwise be used for doing homework. In some cases, students just have too much going on in a certain week or day, and need a break in order to escape the constant stress they’re feeling. These are instances in which mental health days would come in handy.
The implementation of these days is a big step in eliminating the stigma that is very obviously surrounding mental health. Some students will refrain from taking days off due to feeling like it would make them “weak” or just not capable of handling pressure. However, there should not be any shame around taking days off when you need it, as the more it's overlooked, the more damaging it is to their well being.
Personally, I believe this is a necessary aspect of every student's academic school year. Even the best students can feel too pressured, overwhelmed, or anxious to attend school and do work to the best of their ability. Days in which kids are able to stay at home, rest, and take care of themselves rather than putting themselves in an even more stressful environment are needed occasionally. With this new law, this idea of “mental health days” is becoming more and more accepted and students aren’t being overlooked. This is a substantial step in making the idea of normal mental health (some good days, some bad days), welcomed in academic environments.
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Especially in these times, with the ongoing pandemic, I believe mental health days will prove to be very beneficial. With the state of our current school year, there are several challenges that students are facing. Some are struggling with the new transition to in-person learning, and school may be a major trigger for anxious feelings towards academics overall. Along with the pressure of in-person learning, some students might just be overwhelmed with work. Being in sports or other extracurriculars means they lose a major chunk of time from their day that could otherwise be used for doing homework. In some cases, students just have too much going on in a certain week or day, and need a break in order to escape the constant stress they’re feeling. These are instances in which mental health days would come in handy.
The implementation of these days is a big step in eliminating the stigma that is very obviously surrounding mental health. Some students will refrain from taking days off due to feeling like it would make them “weak” or just not capable of handling pressure. However, there should not be any shame around taking days off when you need it, as the more it's overlooked, the more damaging it is to their well being.
Personally, I believe this is a necessary aspect of every student's academic school year. Even the best students can feel too pressured, overwhelmed, or anxious to attend school and do work to the best of their ability. Days in which kids are able to stay at home, rest, and take care of themselves rather than putting themselves in an even more stressful environment are needed occasionally. With this new law, this idea of “mental health days” is becoming more and more accepted and students aren’t being overlooked. This is a substantial step in making the idea of normal mental health (some good days, some bad days), welcomed in academic environments.
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Hey hey,
ReplyDeleteI agree that mental health days are quite important. I don't know a lot about the exact rules of the law, but I think that there are a few issues depending on how it's implemented. For example, taking a day to get a break from the stress of school doesn't exactly work when you have to make up that work later. At least, it wouldn't for me. I don't know if that's currently part of the plan, but I wouldn't be surprised. Also, when someone's mental health isn't that great, 5 days might not be enough. I'm not sure what a better amount or way of counting the days would be, but maybe it could be adjusted based on specific people. However, despite the possible issues, this new law definitely a step in the right direction.
- Ellix
I agree that this new law being implemented is definitely at least a first step in the right direction, but as mentioned by Ellix, it still has its flaws and areas to be improved upon. The way this is being implemented seems like it still only has a very basic and general understanding of mental health. Making up missed work and being limited to five days seem very restrictive and only offers temporary help to reduce stress. With all that said, I'm glad there are at least attempts to try and give students a break from the stress of school and to focus on themselves, especially with the transition back from online learning. There is still a long way to go, but this is a good step forward.
ReplyDelete-mengtong
Really good points made in this! I like your concluding statement, and I agree (and appreciate) that these days are making mental health more accepted and normalized. As other people have commented before, I do agree that the current state of these "mental health days" could be improved. Making up missed lessons and work, while it is "excused," may end up additional stress and set the student even further behind. Personally, on a mental health day, I would assume the student would not be expected to do high effort work. Overall though, I agree that this is a good first step forward!
ReplyDelete- Athena
I agree that mental health days are a good thing but there are some flaws in my opinion. From what I understand, I believe you have to make up any work on the days that you miss. I think that the teachers should email the students that decided to take a mental health day about the information they went over in class. If there was any homework assigned on that day, I believe it should be optional for the student on that day. There should be an extension for any homework given. If the student is too stressed or anxious, they might want to wait until the next day to complete it.
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