The 2024 Oregon Students Health survey reports that only 56% of students have a positive view of their mental health and 18% of students feel their mental health needs are not being met.
These numbers reveal an important fact about students’ mental health: They are struggling.
At LHS, many students say they struggle with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues that impact them on the daily. Getting students the help they need is a top priority and one that needs to be better addressed by the district leadership.
Many questions come up in regards to student’s mental health, but the one that stands out is why are students struggling? One answer is world events. In the years following the pandemic, international mental health plummeted around the world. This, along with factors like home and social life has made it increasingly harder for students to deal with mental health alone.
“I think all people at Lakeridge struggle with mental health,” said junior Sadie Brix. “LHS is a very prestigious school, and you’re expected to get good grades all the time, which makes your mental health worse.”
The pressure put on students can worsen existing mental health conditions and upset students’ home-school balance. For those who struggle with mental illness, symptoms may be exacerbated by the stress of school.
Through all of this, many students feel that their mental health is not sufficiently supported by LHS or the district. They feel that while important steps have been taken, leadership needs to do more.
“Putting up signs doesn’t really help,” said Brix.
A good solution would be to lean in to purposefully supporting student mental health.
“More programs for mental health would be helpful, and a lighter homework load,” said junior Sam Hogge.
Many students share this sentiment; calls for less school work and pressure to get good grades are common among the student body. So what can the district do to support student mental health?
LHS students say helping them separate school work from their free time would help lessen the stress of school. Strategies like assigning less homework, making classes more accessible for students who have to frequently miss school due to health concerns and advocating students to take mental health days.
There are many ways that students can get help at school; the most accessible is the counselors. When students come to a counselor for help they will work with them to create a plan specific to them to address their needs, according to counselor Gordon Hilberg. Whether it is an issue at home, school or both, the counselors will work with students to assist them in their mental health.
“We want to emphasize that there is help in school,” said Hilberg, “We have a school social worker who can see someone for about 10 visits to help them stabilize and get connected to outside resources.”
He said the main goal of the counselors is to assist students until they have a stable network outside of school to help them.
With so much pressure at school, combined with environmental factors like home life and a feeling there is lack of mental health support, students can feel very overwhelmed very fast. It is important that district leadership recognizes the gaps that need to be filled, and to meet students where they are at. The more the community stakes in mental health, the more support they will have.
