The excitement of finally getting on after waiting in a line for what felt like a decade. The adrenaline rush as you reach the very top and the next second your heart drops as you’re punching down at an unbelievable speed. The fear and thrill felt at the unexpected twist and turns. You’re gripping the safety bar holding on for dear life as you go through the most horrifying and fun minute of your life. High school is just like a roller coaster, filled with unpredictable emotions that can be overwhelming. Understanding mental health is crucial to help students manage their emotions throughout high school.
Mental health is a topic that is talked about on the daily at West Leyden. Leyden’s goal is for students to have more opportunities to feel comfortable expressing their mental health. Even though it’s talked about on the daily, many students feel that Leyden doesn’t offer lots of resources for students to feel heard or to express their feelings.
Leyden feels that it is important to bring awareness to mental health and for students to be able to express their emotions. Leyden gives the opportunity for students to do that by giving surveys in advisory class and by doing SEL lessons. They also give the option to students to take classes, talk to a counselor, or a social worker if they are struggling with their mental health.
“Nearly 90 percent of schools reported increased social and emotional support for students during the 2021-22 academic year. However, 39 percent of schools reported that lack of access to licensed professionals and mental health funding were major roadblocks to their efforts supporting student mental health” (Nadia Tamez ).
“Leyden offers a lot of extra help, for example, counselors or peers that allow you to talk to somebody that might be going to the same issues as you. I think they do more than enough. But in some cases there are students that need more help, they can always ask for it and I’m pretty sure they’ll give them all the help they need,” says sophomore Jackie Morales who thinks that Leyden provides more than enough resources to help those students who are struggling.
Other students think otherwise, that the lessons that they give don’t really help them and that they don’t pay attention half of the time, Savannah Rueda thinks just this she says, “Leyden has limited resources for helping students with mental health as there are a fair amount of students who struggle. It’s not like you can easily reach out to any adult, since you don’t really know what they’ll do with that information. Leyden should be able to be reasonable with listening to students and understand that opening up to someone isn’t so easy. Letting students have a bit more freedom, especially since there’s more rules around this year, will not only help students but help the school as a whole”.
Throughout high school there’s moments where you feel like you’ve reached your breaking point. High school students go through many stressful moments and everyone has different things that affect them the most. It can be homework, teachers, rules, tests, students, gossip, rumors, etc. A lot of students at Leyden agree that all the work overload and all the homework is what makes them feel like ripping out their hair.
Miranda Terron, a junior at Leyden, talks about what she thinks affects her the most as a student, she says, “But the amount of schoolwork, sometimes it’s just unacceptable. It really stresses me out and not only affects me in school but out of school too, it causes my sleeping schedule to be all over the place and trying to manage my time with school work and outside activities can get really stressful and overwhelming”.
Of course its different for everyone and every student handles things differently, for Jackie Morales the time the bus arrives is what affects her the most she explains, “ I definitely think that the time that the bus arrives affects me the most, the bus gets here to school around 30 minutes before class starts, I think that it’s just very unnecessary for us to be picked up so early. The bus could pick us up a bit later and that would definitely help me with my sleep schedule and that would help me stay more focused in class”.
Mostly everyone can agree that the pandemic had a huge impact on themselves and others. Especially students, from being around other people and socializing on a daily basis from being stuck in your house and attending school through your computer screen. For most high school students at the moment the pandemic started around age 11-13 and when it ended they were 14-16.
“50 percent of all lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. This means that most mental health conditions emerge during childhood and adolescence. For most students their mental health started to worsen around age 14/ 15. For a lot of students at Leyden that was a little after the pandemic” (At What Age Does Mental Illness Start?).
Savannah Rueda talks about her opinion about how the pandemic affected us, she says, “I definitely feel that the pandemic really affected us, because being stuck inside for several weeks is really mind altering, we didn’t really have that much social interaction that we should have been having with kids during that year. So it was really difficult for many people to get used to it and accept what was happening.”
Helping, supporting and being there for students when they are struggling with their mental health is as important as ensuring the safety harness and stability of a roller coaster. Without there being no support or resources , the emotional high and lows can become very overwhelming. Ultimately having enough support for students ensures that they get through high school emotionally and academically with ease just like a roller coaster that provides a thrilling yet safe experience.
