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Blog Reflect

The article addresses the mental health crisis among high school students, linking rising suicide rates to increased academic pressures and social tensions. It emphasizes the importance of creating supportive environments that prioritize students' emotional well-being over performance. Educators are encouraged to recognize the significance of students' struggles and provide necessary resources to help them cope with stress and anxiety.

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9 views4 pages

Blog Reflect

The article addresses the mental health crisis among high school students, linking rising suicide rates to increased academic pressures and social tensions. It emphasizes the importance of creating supportive environments that prioritize students' emotional well-being over performance. Educators are encouraged to recognize the significance of students' struggles and provide necessary resources to help them cope with stress and anxiety.

Uploaded by

slap
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

[Link]

org/article/high-school-kids-are-not-all-right

This article discusses the crisis of mental health in high school situations.

According to it, the rising number of teenage suicides can be somewhat connected to

the increasing pressure put upon students. The addition of more high stakes testing, the

rat race around college admissions, and the growing competitive nature of school

achievements coupled with the general anxiety and emotional roller coaster of

adolescence and the traditional social tensions of high school can make the lives of high

school children hellish. The article puts forth a few steps educators can make to assist

students in high stress, crisis situations. Going beyond just treating symptoms, but also

trying to put students into a space where they can get the support and care they need in

those moments.

Reflection

An oft-repeated quote of dubious authorship is “Be kind, for everyone you meet is

fighting a hard battle.” Adults tend to minimize the struggling of children and

adolescents as being “smaller” or otherwise minimal in comparison to the bigger

struggles they face. While adults may have the foreknowledge that spats and the

struggles of High School when finally in the rear view mirror of life will feel trivial and

silly, for the students going through them right now those experiences dominate and

illustrate their whole life. It's important to listen to and remind students that their issues

are issues both matter and you do care to help them.


One part of this article that resonated the most with me was the reminder to

remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Student stress and anxiety stems from a failure

to achieve these specific needs. Students need to feel safe, secure, and healthy in a

space before they can perform to the best of their abilities. Focus on stability and

comfort first, before trying to emphasize efficiency in your classroom. Student health

and safety should always trump needing to pump up student performance.

In my own practice, some of my students need a respectfully quiet place to feel

safe and push back against anxiety they have about school. This is easily reflected by

how they perform on assessments when the classroom is loud versus when it’s quiet.

As such, it falls on me to make sure the environment he’s in is what’s best for him.

Strong management and guided environments to best emphasize learning and making

sure students have access to all the resources they need are key to help them in crisis

moments.

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