We Need to Start Giving Students the Tools to Safeguard Their Mental Health
The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for everyone but it has been an especially challenging time for students. Gen Z has reported experiencing anxiety and depression at a higher rate than older generations, with uncertainty about the future combined with the prolonged isolation of remote learning leading to intense levels of stress.
Fortunately, young people have shown an increased willingness to speak openly about their mental health struggles and several organizations are working to provide resources and create systemic change so students can begin taking action in their mental health journeys.
Through their Thriving Together campaign, Our Minds Matter is engaging 90 student-led chapters across the world by hosting free self-care activities that are open to the public. Student leaders will be focused on implementing wellness weeks, along with sharing mental health resources online and in school to help their peers to take action.
Inseparable is launching a grassroots campaign for the Mental Health Services for Students Act, which would provide funding for public schools across the country to establish on-site mental health care services for students.
Morgan’s Message hopes to eliminate the largely unacknowledged stigma surrounding the relationship between mental health and athletics by empowering high school and college athletes across the U.S. and Canada to reach out to their peers and start a dialogue about mental health.
Piedmont High School’s Break The Silence Club will play music during lunch and pass out Life Savers with a pocket-sized Mental Health Resource card attached. Additionally, club members will also encourage students to store key numbers in their phones.
Other partners committed to making mental health action a reality for students include College Outreach, General Assembly, Communities in School, and Students Learn Students Vote Coalition.
With accessible and achievable mental health care, students can be empowered to take action and begin making their mental well-being a real priority.
Need help now?
If you’re struggling and need to talk to someone, you’re not alone. There are lots of free, confidential resources available 24/7.
