Posted on Jun 10, 2022
More states are allowing students to take mental health days off
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/06/10/ [login to see] /kids-mental-health-days
Linnea Sorensen falls into a funk whenever her girlfriend of four years leaves for her six-month stints with the Marines, and the high school junior has trouble concentrating on her classwork.
"I'm somebody who struggles with my mental health quite a bit," said the 17-year-old, who attends school in Schaumburg, Ill., a suburb of about 77,000 people northwest of Chicago. "When you're in school and not fully mentally there, it's like you're not really grasping anything anyway."
Now Illinois is giving Sorensen and students like her a new option for dealing with mental health lows. The state allows K-12 students in public schools to have five excused absences per school year for mental health reasons, another example of the growing acknowledgment among lawmakers that emotional and physical health are intertwined. The new policy, which went into effect at the beginning of 2022, passed both chambers of the state legislature unanimously.
Linnea Sorensen falls into a funk whenever her girlfriend of four years leaves for her six-month stints with the Marines, and the high school junior has trouble concentrating on her classwork.
"I'm somebody who struggles with my mental health quite a bit," said the 17-year-old, who attends school in Schaumburg, Ill., a suburb of about 77,000 people northwest of Chicago. "When you're in school and not fully mentally there, it's like you're not really grasping anything anyway."
Now Illinois is giving Sorensen and students like her a new option for dealing with mental health lows. The state allows K-12 students in public schools to have five excused absences per school year for mental health reasons, another example of the growing acknowledgment among lawmakers that emotional and physical health are intertwined. The new policy, which went into effect at the beginning of 2022, passed both chambers of the state legislature unanimously.
More states are allowing students to take mental health days off
Posted from npr.org
Mental Health
Children
Schools
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Parents need to be educated," said Sheila Blanco, 57, a food distribution purchaser from Chicago whose 14-year-old daughter, Carli, died by suicide in 2017. "So many parents, they don't know what resources are, and even if there are resources, to help out the child or help them to help the child."
Anna Sanderson, a Schaumburg High School junior, said she believes the policy is a good idea, just not for her. "If I miss a day because I'm overwhelmed or not feeling well mentally, I feel like when I go back, I'll only be worse," the 17-year-old said. "I'll have to make up assignments and tests and be behind in my classes."
But she said she hopes it's a sign of greater support for students' mental health. She said schools sometimes fail to acknowledge student suicides or to provide counseling that goes much beyond education.
"I feel like we get dismissed a lot of the time," she said."
...""Parents need to be educated," said Sheila Blanco, 57, a food distribution purchaser from Chicago whose 14-year-old daughter, Carli, died by suicide in 2017. "So many parents, they don't know what resources are, and even if there are resources, to help out the child or help them to help the child."
Anna Sanderson, a Schaumburg High School junior, said she believes the policy is a good idea, just not for her. "If I miss a day because I'm overwhelmed or not feeling well mentally, I feel like when I go back, I'll only be worse," the 17-year-old said. "I'll have to make up assignments and tests and be behind in my classes."
But she said she hopes it's a sign of greater support for students' mental health. She said schools sometimes fail to acknowledge student suicides or to provide counseling that goes much beyond education.
"I feel like we get dismissed a lot of the time," she said."
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good morning, thank you for the solid read/share of the most informational good buddy.
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Kind of funny. One the Army the clinical anesthesia sites is at Fort Hood and at one point was ran by LTC Sitzberger. He was one of the “ Chosin Few who fought his way out of the Chosin reservoir during the Korean War. He sued to say “I wanted my anesthesia students so stressed they eat coal and crap diamonds “.
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