Mental health sinks as expectations rise
Over the course of the pandemic, many people’s mental health experienced patterns of lows as COVID-19 kept us locked in from the outside world. Now that we have returned full time to school, students’ mental health continues to deplete as teachers assign an increased amount of workload with their rising expectations in students. Staff members at school sites should remember that not all students have fully mentally recovered from the extended period of time in which students were isolated from a proper education and I would like to see more support and understanding offered to my peers.
Coming from experience, after school I have sports that go until about 10 p.m. everyday. Jumping on homework right when I get home, I finish between around 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. Sometimes I stay up all night just so that I can get all of my homework done. With no sleep and no time for myself, my mental health is declining as I stretch myself thin–all so that I can be academically “successful.” Many of my fellow peers have expressed many similar difficulties as they feel like their mental health is not being supported, and that is starting to affect their physical health as well.
This pandemic has been extremely difficult for both students and teachers but that is why it is so frustrating. We went into the new school year believing that there would be a mutual understanding between students and teachers that we would ease into this pandemic gradually to help the transition into a “normal” year for the sake of mental as well as physical health. Looking around my classrooms, I can clearly see the exhaustion and struggle my peers are experiencing. Students are grateful for the teachers who do express their concern for students. Those teachers exhibit a flexible mindset, offering extra help and providing resources to benefit students struggling with their mental health. When I come across these teachers, it feels like I am in a safe space that is there to support my mental being.
Especially with this roller coaster of a pandemic, it is especially important for teachers to foster the growth of students by offering us support and understanding that students need to take care of themselves. When we are able to get enough sleep each night and have some time for ourselves, not only would our mental health improve, but our physical health would as well.
