Mental health's role in the school system

Gus Creter - Junior, Co-Editor | Editorial

As we all know, times are extra complicated right now. Whether we are speaking on the pandemic that is still ravaging the world (and especially America) or the evident state of political unrest, we as a society are doing more thinking than ever before. As a high school student, I’ve spent my years filling my schedule, limiting my “me-time” drastically.

As COVID-19’s reign slowly but surely fades away into a wave of vaccinations, I’ve been reflecting on my own evolution from the past year and how my time of self-reflection has influenced my mental health.

The more that people around my age have been isolated this past year, the more they’ve been able to discover sides of themselves mentally that they may have never found before. Personally, I have allowed myself to make more decisions to help lead towards my happiness and have taken steps to ensure that I’m living in the best quality of life I can.

From work over the summer to school in the fall and winter, I have felt a shift between my more unaware life and my life now knowing what’s best for me.

I have had the most difficulty regarding compliance with my mental health between the walls of Cookeville High School. Our school administration revels in their decision to have an “open door policy,” implying that they will be willing to help students work with their potential mental health complications.

In my experience, the school has had difficulty understanding the issues of a high school student who can’t balance the extreme expectations of both school work and school rules while going through their own personal issues.

While I believe the school board’s intentions are mostly positive, their dependence on the basic school system rule book is one that can conflict with a student’s ability to last through the seven potentially excruciating hours they are subjected to five times a week.

School administrators would definitely have trouble convincing the stuck-in-their-way school board to make adjustments in the rule book depending on a student’s specific mental health needs. It’s worth fighting for the chance that one student’s school environment is more suited for their daily needs.

I leave the conclusion in the hands of our administration. How hard will they fight to truly ensure that every student feels like the open door policy is for them? Will they even attempt to adjust simple rules such as dress code if it could ensure a positive day for a student? The answer should be as simple as administration doing whatever they can for the well-being of their students, but in the end, mental health is not seen as a pressing issue if it means compromise for the man in charge.