By Hailey Beaston ’27
This story was originally published in the GenZeal feature of LNP on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
There are millions of U.S. children who are living with mental illness, but a study published in 2019 in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that only about half of them receive the proper and necessary treatment.
This is a crisis in today’s world, as mental health is declining and more people are seeking help. Students, in particular, have tons of pressure on them.
“With work, school, activities, and friends all demanding attention, many students struggle with balancing and prioritizing the different areas of their lives,” an article on the website Mental Health America states.
Mental health struggles must be given a greater priority and, as they are becoming more common, we need to find effective ways to address them.
Schools should be a safe place and students should feel as though they have someone to talk to, whether it’s a teacher, a psychologist, a counselor or a friend.
According to the Learning Policy Institute, the American School Counselor Association recommends a student-to-school counselor ratio of 250 to 1, but in the 2023-24 school year, the national average ratio was 376 to 1.
Additionally, the National Association of School Psychologists recommends a ratio of 500 students to one psychologist, yet in the 2023-24 school year, the ratio was more than twice as high as that recommendation.
One way we can seriously help to address the issue is to make mental health a priority in school districts. We can bring more attention to mental health during school days, as school is a huge part of kids’ lives.
If mental health help is being provided to students at a young age, it significantly benefits a child.
“Research reveals that providing school-based mental health services in elementary schools positively affects students’ mental health, and the presence of qualified and supported school counselors reduces disciplinary incidents and disciplinary recidivism, improves teachers’ perceptions of school climate and student behavior, and increases boys’ academic achievement,” the Learning Policy Institute states.
Students have a lot of pressure on them, and finding the balance between school, friends, family, working and time for themselves isn’t easy. All of this can leave kids mentally exhausted. Providing kids with mental health counseling can provide a great benefit. It would be an example of schools meeting students’ needs by giving them the support they need and deserve.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2724377
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/student-mental-health-education-factsheet