Many students struggle with their mental health. According to bestcolleges.com, under “College Student Mental Health Statistics,” 9 out of 10 students struggle with their mental health and it impacts their academics. That is around 89% of students struggling. It is a problem that is not taken seriously enough. Counselors do their best to meet with students but mental health requires more help. Although the counselors try their best, they can only do so much. 

The counselors at the high school are overwhelmed as well. They are responsible for many other jobs such as testing, enrollment for new students, and schedules or schedule changes. The counselors are not always available or have the resources at the moment to help students in need. This is why it’s important to have extra resources or people who are qualified to help students with mental health issues. 

Students don’t always have access to outside resources for mental health or the insurance to receive it. Students sign up to see counselors for mental health reasons and will not hear back until a week later. For some students, the counselors are the only people they feel comfortable going to. Some students have it hard at home and can’t complete work so then it causes their mental health and grades to drop. One drops and the other goes, it’s like a domino effect, and it is never-ending. 

It is important to take care of themselves, especially in high school. It is difficult no matter what anyone says. Students will struggle one way or another. When they don’t take their mental health seriously then it takes a toll. It actually takes a bigger toll than a lot of people think. It’s hard for kids to even get out of the house, let alone having to go to school and do all their work. Some students have jobs, sports, and school clubs, and it gets hard to juggle everything together. 

It’s important for students to have access to resources to let them know that it is okay. While there are mental health resources, not a lot of students know about them or even know there are people here to help. It would be a good idea to add a way to sign up to talk to Ms. North or Ms. Rhodus like there is for counselors. Even then kids should be encouraged to speak up when they need help. No one should be pushed to talk, but with encouragment, kids will feel more comfortable getting help.