Every morning at 6:00 AM my alarm goes off. I reluctantly get out of bed and get ready to go to school, thinking about all of the tests and assignments I have to prepare for. During the day, the same topics always come up. From one friend to the next it’s “I stayed up all night writing my essay” or “I can’t hang out after practice, I have so much homework to do”. 

In the midst of a pandemic, students and faculty members are experiencing a difficult struggle with mental health issues. Stress levels are rising, and even though it is our first year back from virtual learning, it is important to keep mental health in mind. I hear about stresses over covid, sports schedules, homework, and even family issues. 

So, schools should have days set in the schedule to focus on mental health for students and faculty. 

According to the Child Mind Institute, “Children who struggle with depression, anxiety or other mental health and learning issues or even kids who’ve just had a rough week may need some time to recuperate and recharge” (Jacobson). 

Mental health days can be preventive, and as mental health is talked about more and more, schools are already starting to take some measures to help students. 

According to the New York Times, many states have passed bills allowing children to be absent from school due to mental health or behavior reasons (Caron).

Stress and mental health aren’t new topics, so if schools are able to acknowledge it, the next step is to actually help students dealing with these problems. 

Yes, there are breaks throughout the year, but how many of those days are actually used as a break from school? When students are bombarded with work and extracurriculars, there is no escape, and they don’t get a chance to bounce back or even truly relax.

Days should be taken out of the regular school schedule once a month, and a mental health day would fill in that day. For my perfect mental health day, it would be a half day at school, with no work given by teachers and no traditional classes. Students and faculty would be able to go outside, meditate, hang out with friends or read in the library to make sure the day is spent doing something productive. For the people who find relaxation in just being alone, they have the second half of the day to do so. 

It’s time mental health in schools is talked about, and more importantly, that action is taken.