Stressed-out kids need mental health days as much as adults

[FfFfFfFF 58,133]

Although adults will often joke about taking a “mental health day” from work, the practice for kids can’t come soon enough for child welfare advocates. In October, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mental health–related visits to the emergency room by children ages five to 11 increased by 24 percent between 2019 and 2020; for 12- to 17-year-olds, the increase was 31 percent.

The reason for such startling numbers—and why more and more states are advocating for mental health days for children—is, of course, the pandemic. 

When a person is under stress, the brain’s amygdala responds by sending a distress signal to the region responsible for delivering adrenaline into the bloodstream. When bursts of strong emotions cause the adrenaline rush, the hormone surge can cause the brain to go into overdrive, firing off all kinds of stress alerts that increase the heart rate—and generally freak kids out.

That’s when a short break or diversion can help. For instance, a 15-minute pause from a noisy school setting to engage in silent or meditative activities has been found to boost the level of the feel-good hormone oxytocin in elementary students.

According to Mona Delahooke, a licensed clinical psychologist and author based in California, not taking a break can magnify the issues because the child’s stress response is quickly burning up resources that should be dedicated to something else.

Each child is unique when it comes to the ideal amount of time they need to take. But Delahooke says children who have been under pressure for an extended period have vulnerable nervous systems. Taking a full day off exercises the parasympathetic nervous system’s ventral vagal pathway, which supports a calm body, the ability to focus, and solve problems. She adds that it’s especially true if the longer breaks involve child-directed activities or the freedom to do what they want.

Source - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/family/article/why-stressed-out-kids-need-mental-health-days-as-much-as-adults

[Guest]

Very true. My job gives us a mental health declaration in our PTO, and all should follow suit. Although its only 8 hours a year, it's a start compared to previous jobs I had with none of that.

[HuffsAhoy 7,433]

My high school students are struggling severely with mental health this year. There is only so much I can do as a teacher to help alleviate it in my classroom. It's so infuriating that the USA takes a nonchalant approach to addressing this growing crisis, especially among our youth. The mere mention of a mental health day sends a large group of people into a fit of laughter. With so  much learning loss during the pandemic, schools and districts are advocating for even more intense schooling to make-up for shortcoming that are not at all the fault of the students. I fear the crisis is only going to get worse in the coming years. 

[SharkmanthaC 115,047]

The kids at my school have been through so much trauma. We are seeing a lot of behavior issues because of it. I just prepared a professional development on trauma for my teachers. We are seeing a lot more behaviors now than we did pre covid. Part of it because of the lack of structure but also because they have so much trauma in their homes and they’ve been there a lot more recently. A lot of school districts here in NC have Friday as a remote day for teachers or a wellness day. A lot parents are scoffing at the idea but it’s needed. I just worry about those kids in bad home situations spending more time in those situations. We have a school psychologist, counselor, behavioral health specialist and a part time social worker at our school and it’s not even enough to deal with everything we have going on right now. Everyone is getting so burnt out. 

[SharkmanthaC 115,047]

11 minutes ago, HuffsAhoy said:

My high school students are struggling severely with mental health this year. There is only so much I can do as a teacher to help alleviate it in my classroom. It's so infuriating that the USA takes a nonchalant approach to addressing this growing crisis, especially among our youth. The mere mention of a mental health day sends a large group of people into a fit of laughter. With so  much learning loss during the pandemic, schools and districts are advocating for even more intense schooling to make-up for shortcoming that are not at all the fault of the students. I fear the crisis is only going to get worse in the coming years. 

Did you see the story of the high school student that committed suicide in the bathroom at the high school (in NC)? So tragic. 

[Dr Fudge 8,674]

No f***ing sh!t kids need mental health days too. The social climate isn’t what it used to be and kids are still developing the emotional resilience needed to handle it the way that adults do. Life is hard for everyone. 

[Putang Ina Mo 2,245]

10 students already committed suic*de because of heavy workloads from online classes here in our country.

Our country's academic programs are still being conducted online because our COVID response effort is a huge fail.

 

[HuffsAhoy 7,433]

39 minutes ago, SamanthaC said:

A lot of school districts here in NC have Friday as a remote day for teachers or a wellness day.

My district voted against a remote day for tomorrow and told those advocating for it to "stop comparing our district to others"  Instead they voted to add an additional teacher workday in March 2022 as a "thank you." The lack of respect for our field in this state makes me sick. 

39 minutes ago, SamanthaC said:

Did you see the story of the high school student that committed suicide in the bathroom at the high school (in NC)? So tragic. 

Yes I did and it broke my heart. We had an attempted suicide at my school earlier this year and it was literally swept under the rug. I only heard about it in passing from another teacher. 

[badfaith 5,716]

35 minutes ago, Tangina said:

10 students already committed suic*de because of heavy workloads from online classes here in our country.

Our country's academic programs are still being conducted online because our COVID response effort is a huge fail.

 

I've been off school for two years now, for financial reasons, after graduating SHS and I saw this trending like weeks ago but I didn't know it was this severe. This is heartbreaking.

[SharkmanthaC 115,047]

10 minutes ago, HuffsAhoy said:

My district voted against a remote day for tomorrow and told those advocating for it to "stop comparing our district to others"  Instead they voted to add an additional teacher workday in March 2022 as a "thank you." The lack of respect for our field in this state makes me sick. 

I don't know what part of the state you're in but that extra workday will likely be taken by snow if you're in the central/western part like myself. And you district will be confused when they have such a heavy turnover rate too.

[gothicdream 39,660]

I feel so much for students during this pandemic. It's unfortunate that this is what it took for a bigger conversation around youth mental health, but I'm so glad the conversation is starting.

[Glamourpuss 29,080]

People think kids don't know what stress is but they do. I was a stressed out kid and really could have benefitted from a day off now and again. Nobody took how I felt seriously and I ended up with chronic anxiety. 

[HuffsAhoy 7,433]

16 minutes ago, SamanthaC said:

I don't know what part of the state you're in but that extra workday will likely be taken by snow if you're in the central/western part like myself. And you district will be confused when they have such a heavy turnover rate too.

I live on the coast so a snow day is unlikely in March  They are already in panic mode because there are over 200 vacancies right now. Yet, they're offering no incentive to stay or come in. Sure we are getting a $1,500 bonus but they're giving it in two installments, 500 this month and the other 1,000 at the end of June

[SharkmanthaC 115,047]

7 minutes ago, HuffsAhoy said:

I live on the coast so a snow day is unlikely in March  They are already in panic mode because there are over 200 vacancies right now. Yet, they're offering no incentive to stay or come in. Sure we are getting a $1,500 bonus but they're giving it in two installments, 500 this month and the other 1,000 at the end of June

We are getting $2000 now (well end of November) and $2000 next August. They are calling it a "retention bonus." I think the state school board has urged districts to do the bonuses and get the extra days. And now the districts are competing with each other. Like my district borders Guilford, so they have to make it competitive.