The Daily Delegate

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with your emotions but didn’t know who to talk to or to go? Have you ever felt uncomfortable or anxious about a situation, but too scared to find the resources you need? The Forum Mental Health Committee has a solution for you! The committee is proposing a brief mandatory biweekly mental health form, completed at the start of English class. The form will include questions relating to depression, anxiety, domestic violence, and substance abuse. The questions will be in the format of on a scale from 1-5…and the people responding on a concerning side (too high or too low, depending on the question) will be referred to a school psychologist.

The forum Mental Health committee’s bill on having a biweekly health form would greatly impact the mental well being of students in grades 7 through 12. According to a google form that the media team produced, “75% of students know someone or have dealt with mental health issues and still have to deal with school.” That statistic is a large amount, and if our bill takes initiative, we have the resources to lower this percentage. Ask yourself: if you had the option to help even just a couple of students, would you take it? Because our bill would do exactly that. Overall, our bill would be extremely beneficial to students’ mental health, resulting in better communication, better grades, and an overall better emotional life. 

According to our forum mental health committee clerks, the average therapist costs $80,000 – $120,000 annually with the charge for a session being between $100-$150. After calculating these numbers, we came to the conclusion that if this bill were to pass, the funds needed would be around $300 million dollars. That $300 million could be given to our hard working, extremely underpaid educators. These teachers are tending to our nation’s future, and the disrespectful pay has to stop. In the 2022-2023 school year there were about 320,000 teachers employed. If this $300 million were allocated and evenly spread to these teachers, each teacher would gain about an extra $900. Although this may not sound like a lot, this will add up, and is a step in the right direction for better pay for our teachers.

School-issued mental wellbeing surveys can help identify students at risk for mental health issues, and mandatory therapists can provide students with healthy coping mechanisms before they turn to unhealthy ones, such as substance abuse. By investing in these programs, students will be able to have less stress and can focus more on their education and their future.

Lobbyist:

Pro: This survey provides a safe space for struggling students to bring their mental health issues to light without requiring them to reach out or have to specifically identify their struggles. Many times, students are embarrassed or unsure.

Along with this, improving student’s mental health will only raise grades and state testing scores, contributing to more school funding and higher education.

Our lobbyist Sean (right) speaks about our bill and what it entails

Con : This new bill will cause a drastic increase in expenses for the school. Due to the amount of new students receiving therapy, there will be an increase in the amount of therapists hired, creating more paychecks to fill out. We also want to bring attention to the fact that in an ideal scenario, it should be the parents’ job to make sure their children are in a comfortable environment, rather than the school. Along with this, spending money on therapists who just diagnose people, but don’t help people achieve actual happiness, is a waste of the school budget. Many therapists just make up illegitimate diagnoses to keep themselves in business, not genuinely caring about their patients.