Roughly 50% of teenagers today deal with mental health issues.

This seems like a pretty big number, right?

This statistic from The Department of Health and Human Services shows just how big of a concern mental health is for so many teenagers.

For many of those struggling, school only amplifies mental health issues, but by adding mental health days to the school year, we can help. 

According to CNBC, schools in states like Maine, Kentucky and Virginia have already added mental health days as a way to help students.

With so many other schools adding mental health days, District 1 should consider doing the same.

As students, we are expected to balance so many things on a daily basis. Keeping up with school work, waking up early to take quizzes and tests, and completing large amounts of homework are just a few of our responsibilities. 

Mental health days can give us students dedicated time to rest and take a much-deserved break from the pressure and stress that school can bring.

While it could be argued that students would only take advantage of mental health days, there are ways around that concern. 

Limits could be placed on the number a student can take per semester to help avoid attendance issues, and doing things like increasing mental health support and adding additional mental health resources can help school become a more comfortable environment overall. 

Even though only allowing a few mental health days per semester might not seem to have that big of an impact, they really would. They could allow students a small reprieve at a time of crisis so they don’t have to deal with school in a moment of stress, worry or anxiety.

It may seem like a small thing to do, but since so many of us fight silent battles every day, I think that implementing mental health days would be a good start to making students feel like their struggles are understood. 

Our school district is already making positive changes through new safety and behavior policies, so adding mental health days needs to be our next priority.