Why Mental Health Education Should Be Mandatory in Schools

In a world where learning and exams are becoming increasingly stressful for students, along with friends, family, and society, with rising anxieties and pressures, mental health education should no longer be regarded as an optional add-on to school curricula. Instead, mental health education should be made mandatory for schools to teach students. Students spend the majority of their time in a school environment, and schools have the possibility of influencing academic education and emotional development as members of society. With early intervention, mental health education could greatly affect the ways in which children and teenagers interpret information in regard to themselves, as well as other people.

Western Governors University (WGU) recently published an article that reported that one in five Americans will have a mental health disorder during their lifetime, and half of these began by age 14. These flags can remain unnoticed until they become serious. The article highlighted Melina, a high school student who was an A student, who suddenly started failing classes and isolating herself from students. She was diagnosed with depression and suicidal thoughts.

With school support, she was diagnosed and received treatment. It is important that schools foster the ability to identify and intervene with students exhibiting red flags before it becomes a crisis situation. Mandating mental health education will help students and educators learn to identify mental health symptoms and intercede before health becomes a crisis situation.

One of the largest reasons to implement mental health education is to combat stigmas. Even today, there still exists a stigma surrounding mental health; many students who are struggling with their feelings and emotions carry that burden alone due to fear of being judged. As previously noted in the Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) blog, roughly 45% of college students believed people would view them poorly for obtaining help, but only 6% did. The difference was education.

With education, students will begin to see mental health education as a part of their life routine, similar to physical health. This allows students to see mental health as something to be acknowledged and that should be addressed. Making mental health education mandatory would allow students to become even slightly more comfortable with mental health, which, in turn, would normalize conversations on mental illness and the stigma attached to it.

Moreover, mental health instructs life skills. Often, schools glorify grades, tests, and performance rather than coping with stress, failure, or building emotional fortitude. Students should learn healthy methods of coping, like journaling, breathing, and unconscious awareness of personal boundaries. When this type of education is normalized in a classroom, it is not only teaching students how to navigate their education, but it is also teaching them how to live and succeed. It can develop the skill of self-awareness and emotional regulation, which is as necessary to our lives as academic knowledge.

Academic achievement and mental health are intricately linked. A student who suffers from emotional or behavioral issues has a dropout rate almost double that of a student who does not have those issues. WGU reports state that nearly 60% of students with mental health conditions do not graduate, which indicates a direct link between mental health and academic achievement. States like New York are putting implementation plans in place for mental health education in grades Kindergarten-12th as they recognize schools need to support a student’s emotional health as part of their educational mandate. When students are mentally fit, they have better focus, engagement, and relations with peers and teachers.

Another reason to support mandatory mental health education is that it creates equality. Not every student has the luxury of coming home to an environment that understands or talks about mental health. Not every family can afford therapy, and some families do not even recognize the signs of emotional distress in their children. In turn, school is the only place that a student can go to access some kind of support or even basic information about mental wellness. If mental health becomes a part of the curriculum, it provides a sense of literacy about the topic that all students, regardless of family background, are exposed to and also gives the same level of support across the systems.

Finally, mandatory mental health education creates a greater school community. Students who learn together about mental health foster empathy and compassion because they can relate to something. As they develop empathy and compassion skills toward one another, they are more inclined to support each other and, in turn, also judge each other less. Students are able to create an environment that demonstrates that asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. An empathetic space helps individuals find their own, greater self-awareness, while establishing a system of belonging and trust throughout the school.