3 Ways Independent Schools Can Better Support Student Mental Health

Childhood is a life stage filled with endless emotional, physical, and social changes. So, it's not surprising that kids experience angst, irritability, mood swings, and other similar behavioral issues throughout this period of growth and maturity. Unfortunately, persistent mental health problems among our youth have become pervasive. Over the past few years, in particular, the percentage of adolescents and teens with clinically diagnosed depression and anxiety, major depressive episodes (MDEs), suicide contemplation and attempts, and unshakeable feelings of sadness and hopelessness has risen sharply—even as mental health services and support have become more available.

In our role as a risk resource and insurance broker for numerous K-12 independent boarding and day schools, the AssuredPartners Education team has had numerous conversations with school administrators, teachers, and counselors about this concerning mental health trend. It is evident there is a serious youth mental health problem and that addressing it must be a top priority for educators, families, and communities. However, not every school is certain of the best way to approach this issue on their campus.

Our team would like to share three strategies we've seen schools use to effectively support mental health and well-being for students, staff, and the extended school community. Whether you're just starting to evaluate available program options or looking to enhance what you already have in place, these may be avenues for you to consider.

#1: Integrating mental health education directly into the school's core curriculum.

During the academic year, at least half of a student's waking hours are spent in the classroom or participating in school-based activities. Educators are taking advantage of this captive audience by integrating mental health education, skills building, and literacy materials into the school day. One example of a classroom-based program many institutions are now integrating into their curriculum is social emotional learning (SEL). SEL lessons focus on five primary skills—self-awareness, social awareness, responsible decision-making, self-management, and relationship skills—and include daily practice of these concepts.

According to the National Institute of Health, implementing a curricula-centered strategy, like SEL, may produce many positive outcomes, including:

• Reducing the stigma around mental health and facilitating more open dialogue between students, teachers, and parents.
• Helping students understand their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors and recognize their mental health needs.
• Providing tools and processes students can use to cope with stress, anxiety, and other emotions; navigate social situations; and cultivate healthy relationships.
• Encouraging students to pay attention to mental health crisis warning signs and seek help, whether for themselves or others, when needed.

#2: Creating a peer support model that empowers students to help each other.

This probably won't come as a shock, but many children resist the idea of sharing their thoughts and feelings with an adult. That's why many schools are gravitating toward peer support models. In these programs, trained student leaders—many of whom have dealt with and managed to overcome their own feelings of anxiety and depression—offer their classmates a positive, welcoming, nonjudgmental, and safe space to talk about everything and anything bothering them. The role of a student peer leader is not to fix a classmate's problems, dole out advice, or offer solutions. Instead, they are there to listen, ask questions, and, if necessary, refer their classmate to an adult who can provide further help.

Some of the foundational elements for building a successful peer-to-peer program include:

• Gaining buy-in from school administration and staff as well as parents.
• Recruiting a committed program advisor(s)., Getting student input early and involving them in program design and implementation.
• Identifying student peer leaders that represent every school social group.
• Training student leaders and staff advisors in areas such as empathy, active listening, basic social and emotional skills, and how to spot mental health red flags.
• Designating an accessible and comfortable room where peers can meet.
• Spreading the word that student support is available.
• Partnering with local mental health agencies and professionals for added support and resources.

#3: Embracing mental health technology to engage with students where they are at today.

Every educator is very aware of how omnipresent technology is in kids' lives. What might not be as well known, though, is that children are now using popular social media apps, like TikTok, to consume mental health information and self-diagnose their mental health issues. That young people are increasingly turning to such unreliable sources to find mental health support and resources is a frightening prospect. But the reality is that technology, and kids' affinity for it, is not going away. So, if a school is looking to better support its students' mental health, one of the smartest moves may be to offer its own technology-based mental health app.

This type of mental health tool is not meant to replace the professionals or services that the institution is currently providing but augment them by:

• Bundling all mental health resources together in one easy-to-access online portal.
• Helping students, especially those not ready to talk to someone in person, identify areas of concern and how much that issue is impacting their lives.
• Providing students with a variety of clinical and non-clinical care options, from well-being tips to peer support and teletherapy, based on their desired level of interaction and their needs and interests.
• Tracking mental health progress over time and providing insights that can help a school determine how best to improve its support and services.
• Would you like assistance developing mental health programs for your school?

Each new mental health service, resource, or tool a school offers is another huge step forward in combatting student mental health issues. We've shared several options you might want to consider implementing, many of which can be applied to the adult members of your school community with the same beneficial outcomes.

But it's not possible to do everything at once. Rolling out student mental health programs takes time and preparation, including engaging every stakeholder in the process, providing comprehensive training, making sure you have dedicated program resources that will be there for the long term, and more.

The AssuredPartners team is here to help. We offer support to our clients in identifying their school's most pressing mental health risks and evaluating specific behavioral health and wellness programs to address their needs. Please contact us if you want to speak with a team member to hear more about how we help our clients navigate these and other trending risk management issues.

Sources: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov blog: Fortifying the Foundations: A Comprehensive Approach to Enhancing Mental Health Support in Educational Policies Amidst Crises, childmind.org blog: What Is Social and Emotional Learning?, nea.org blog: Peer Programs Helping Schools Tackle Student Depression, Anxiety