Mental Mindfulness
Mental Mindfulness
Sam Kelly
The awareness around mental health (specifically in regards to education) has increased rapidly since quarantine. While this is a good thing, there still exists plenty of improvement. Resources students may have been things such as available councilors or provided safe spaces to just feel what they need to feel. There are usually meetings or presentations where someone comes in to talk to students about the available resources.
While these are good things, students can only be assisted as much as they want to be. Some struggling students fail to contact or exercise the use of resources available to them. “I’ve ignored my mental health for years because I’ve never had easily accessible resources available to help me tell someone about how I feel,” Lauren Deguire, a senior at Flagstaff High School said in an interview. It is also to be considered that some people don’t have the same time to utilize said resources. Students sometimes have work, extracurriculars and sometimes extra responsibilities at home.
Even though schools have advanced concerns about mental health and their approach to it, it's not always enough. Investing in more presentations to spread awareness, enforcing meetings between students and councilors, and making time for students, are the most important steps that need to be taken. Having these resources can help, but actually working to provide them to students is where we can see a real change.