SPECIAL REPORT
Should we let students have mental health days? By Shannon Meyerkort, Industry Reporter
The idea of an adult taking a mental health day is commonly accepted and even encouraged. Should children have the same opportunity?
Linda Williams is a Senior Psychologist with more than 10 years’ experience working in mental health services, and the Clinical Lead at youth mental health service ReachOut. “Adolescence is a time when many young people will experience mental health difficulties for the first time,” she explained. “More than one in three young people in Australia is currently experiencing a mental health difficulty.”
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If the pandemic made anything simpler, it was the decision to keep children – or indeed anyone – home when they were sick. No longer are we expected to ‘soldier on’, and no one questions whether it’s the right decision to keep someone home when they have a temperature or sore throat. But what about a child who is mentally exhausted or suffering stress from continual academic expectations?
Mental health days are just as important for young people as they can be for adults a mix of seeking treatment (from a GP or a mental health professional), rest and self-care.
and teach the student the value of managing their mental health and building resilience.
“It can be useful to parents and carers to discuss the plans for the day at the start of the day with their young person to set those expectations. In some cases, teachers might also support this process.”
On a larger scale, being more open and accepting of mental health days can reduce the stigma around asking for help and normalise the idea of mental health being as important as physical health.
Just like physical illness, mental health issues can affect anyone at any time, and be chronic or acute. It’s important to recognise, and make children understand, that our mental health is just as important as our physical health and requires the same level of care and compassion.
Benefits of a mental health day
“It is really important that we acknowledge that mental health days are just as important for young people as they can be for adults,” Williams said. “A mental health day will look different for everyone depending on what they need to support their wellbeing in that moment. In many cases, it could include
Taking a day out to focus on mental health can have myriad benefits to a student who is struggling, from reduced absenteeism to enhanced focus. Recognising the benefits of a mental health day and being proactive in granting them, can sometimes prevent more serious issues from developing,
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When should kids have a mental health day? A distinction must be made between a genuine need to rest and replenish one’s mental health and ‘chucking a sickie.’ Similarly, the growing tendency to take time off school for family holidays, or a day off to spend with family can muddy the waters of the true mental health day.
EDUCATION
Educator and consultant, Linda Stade said “Chucking a sickie is when you just want a day off, and we all want that every now and again! However, from an educational perspective, it is self-evident that consistent attendance at school makes a difference to learning and wellbeing outcomes. When a child is able, they should be at school. “There has been a recent trend to take kids out of school to have special parent-child time. This is often called a ‘mental health day’ but that devalues the needs of kids who are genuinely having mental health issues. I think they should be called ‘bonding days’ as they are often about building connection by playing hooky from school and work together,” Stade said. “Mental health days have a bad rap and can be associated with slacking off or taking a day off when you aren’t unwell,” Williams added. “However, when we recognise that our mental health is as important as physical health, we begin to understand that looking after ourselves and Term 3, 2024 | school-news.com.au