Poor mental health has been shown to result in procrastination, issues with concentrating, and mental ability. All of which can greatly hinder a student’s ability to work efficiently. In order to improve mental health and prevent it from getting worse, students may need to take breaks from school, otherwise known as mental health days.

Students’ mental health is more important now than ever. Over the course of the pandemic, multiple studies have shown that mental health in students has significantly gotten worse. Allowing students to take days off for their mental health could not only increase the productivity of students but overall morale.

Doing the same thing every day can quickly lead to burnout. The stress of tests, deadlines, and homework could easily be overwhelming to some students. Allowing mental health days would give struggling students to take a day to recharge and reorganize themselves.

Students would be allowed to take a certain amount of days off each school year or term, depending on the school system’s schedule and rules. They could call the office stating their absence just as you would for a sick day, and it would be as simple as that. However, because everyone has different needs, if a student needed more mental health days than the limited amount, they would be able to speak to a counselor or other professional about extending the number for them depending on their circumstances.

A common worry among teachers and parents about student mental health days is that some students would take advantage of this to skip school. While this is a possibility, the issue of students feeling the need to skip school is a whole separate issue that should be addressed on its own.

Overall, the process of implementing student mental health days off may take some time and work, but the benefits are worth it.