Mental health is an issue that has gained more and more traction in our society, and rightfully so. The school and many others reflect this growing concern through announcements, initiatives and assemblies. One of the more recent actions the school has taken was mental health week.
Mental health week, five days meant to focus more on the welfare of students, included music playing in the halls during transition periods and dogs in the student commons.
With the rise of awareness and normalization of afflictions like depression and anxiety, nearly everyone at school either has some sort of mental illness or is close with someone who is.
Many students believe that the school’s actions are well intended but just not effective.
“Honestly, the school’s efforts were much more realistic this year in actually helping students’ mental health but they only stuck with it for a week. Why not continue to do something as simple as playing music in the hallway?” senior Avi Patel said.
Many students like Patel enjoy the music in the hallways while others think it’s more of a nuisance. Although even the students that do like the music think the school should start polling students for what songs to play.
I think the music is poorly executed; you can’t hear what’s playing and even when you do, it drowns out conversations you are having.
— senior Liv Haberman
The school is constantly looking to provide helpful options for people with mental health issues but it is often seen by students that they are just fed the same repetitive google slides presentations.
Despite students’ complaints, they have alternatives that they believe would actually be helpful for the student body.
“During mental health week, we could have more group activities or even a whole day reserved for studying and catching up on work,” sophomore Josh Degala said.
There seems to be a general consensus that more free periods allowing students to do what is best for them would actually contribute to bettering everyone’s mental health.
“Let students have a class period to just relax, let them listen to music, read, do homework, even go on their phone; just let them do anything they need to do for themselves,” senior Janaiyah Innis said.
