Yes, school affects mental health. The academic pressure school places on students can affect them in their personal life in school and outside of school. With the constant workload of having a lot of homework or having extracurriculars like a sport or job or taking care of a sibling. A study done in Florida said that “during the 2020-2021 academic year over 20% of high school students in Florida reported feeling sad or hopeless, directly affecting their ability to succeed academically.” This proves that because they were sad they felt like they couldn’t succeed, proving that mental health affects their ability to do school work.
Another reason why mental health is affected in school is because of bullying. Bullying is such a big thing in schools like not fitting in or getting picked on by other students. An article by Dr. Chris Mosunic says “bullying can cause extreme stress and anxiety. When a child is bullied everyday at school it can feel like a struggle.” This proves that bullying in school can affect mental health, causing depression. A Florida report says that in the “2019-2020 academic year, there were over 20,000 reported cases of bullying.” That just shows how bullying can affect a lot of kids’ mental health even if they might not show it.
Another contributing factor is sleep deprivation. Many students don’t get enough sleep at night so the next morning they are exhausted and tired not focusing on school which can cause them to fall behind academically. An article by Nicholas Williams says “A study published in the Journal of Adolescent health found that 70% of high school students in the United States do not get a recommended 8-10 hours of sleep per night.” Not getting enough sleep can cause a lot of stress and anxiety. It can also distract students from focusing on school work which can flood into personal life outside of school.
So at the end of the day what can we do? Well, teachers can lessen the pressure of making big assignments. Schools also give students the resources they might need to help them succeed and give them resources so they can talk to school counselors. Teachers can help by giving students more time in and out of class to turn in school work. Adults in general can also pay closer attention to signs that students are struggling.
School Negatively affects Mental Health
By Natalie Koppehele ’25
Yes, school affects mental health. The academic pressure school places on students can affect them in their personal life in school and outside of school. With the constant workload of having a lot of homework or having extracurriculars like a sport or job or taking care of a sibling. A study done in Florida said that “during the 2020-2021 academic year over 20% of high school students in Florida reported feeling sad or hopeless, directly affecting their ability to succeed academically.” This proves that because they were sad they felt like they couldn’t succeed, proving that mental health affects their ability to do school work.
Another reason why mental health is affected in school is because of bullying. Bullying is such a big thing in schools like not fitting in or getting picked on by other students. An article by Dr. Chris Mosunic says “bullying can cause extreme stress and anxiety. When a child is bullied everyday at school it can feel like a struggle.” This proves that bullying in school can affect mental health, causing depression. A Florida report says that in the “2019-2020 academic year, there were over 20,000 reported cases of bullying.” That just shows how bullying can affect a lot of kids’ mental health even if they might not show it.
Another contributing factor is sleep deprivation. Many students don’t get enough sleep at night so the next morning they are exhausted and tired not focusing on school which can cause them to fall behind academically. An article by Nicholas Williams says “A study published in the Journal of Adolescent health found that 70% of high school students in the United States do not get a recommended 8-10 hours of sleep per night.” Not getting enough sleep can cause a lot of stress and anxiety. It can also distract students from focusing on school work which can flood into personal life outside of school.
So at the end of the day what can we do? Well, teachers can lessen the pressure of making big assignments. Schools also give students the resources they might need to help them succeed and give them resources so they can talk to school counselors. Teachers can help by giving students more time in and out of class to turn in school work. Adults in general can also pay closer attention to signs that students are struggling.
Sources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8068628/
https://www.calm.com/blog/how-do-schools-affect-mental-health#:~:text=School%20can%20have%20a%20major,and%20affecting%20their%20overall%20wellbeing.
https://mountainheightsacademy.org/how-school-affects-mental-health-understanding-the-impact-on-students