PIVOTAL POLICY: THE PASSING OF BILL 0576 IN ILLINOIS

by ROCIO PORTAL STAFF WRITER

Thestate of Illinois passed a bill recently that allows public school students to take upwards of five mental health days, inspiring another bill that allowed school employees to do the same. The bill stipulates that those who choose to be absent in an effort to focus on their mental well- being are allowed to make up any work they may have missed. It affirms the provision of contact information belonging to school personnel who can provide help, such as a counselor, after the student has obtained two absences on the grounds of mental health.

The idea of a bill catering to students struggling with mental health was brought about between 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic resulted in an all-around decrease in mental health. Even before the pandemic, children in the United States were already facing a mental health crisis due to various factors, a major contributor being school related stress.

Bill 0576 in Illinois is only one of many across the nation that have caved into demands for mental-health resources. States like Virginia, Maine, California, Kentucky, and Colorado have their own versions of Bill 0576, all of which are attempts to aid post-pandemic recovery for children in schools. Offering students the opportunity to take time off for their mental well being is a step in the right direction for every state involved as it actively works towards destigmatizing the topic and increasing awareness. There has been a growth of support for children sturggling with mental health; iIt is fascinating to witness the change in which see how states have responded to the mental health crisis and how in doing so there has been a growth in support for children struggling. Most of us can agree that growing up, In our upbringings, the idea of mental health days in school was unheard of, which subsequently makes this making this post-pandemic policy seem revolutionary.

Although it is still too early to see the statistical effects the new policy may have on public school students, breaks from academic settings have been an option for higher level education institutions for decades, including the University of Chicago. Leaves of absences in college settings are known to have positive impacts as they are a viable alternative to withdrawals from classes or rather, falling into chronic absenteeism. According to the Department of Education, more than 20% of high school students and over 14% of middle school students across the country are chronically absent, making this a pressing issue for school districts to address. Whilst leaves of absences in higher education are not the exact same as Bill 0567, it can still be expected for the bill to prove positive for students in Illinois much like it has for those in college by allowing them to rest and start to gain a mentality that involves self-care.

Since the enactment of the bill, policymakers have considered extending mental health days to teachers as well, hoping that they too could recover from the negative effects of the pandemic. Children in school struggled coping with the lack of socialization and troubles of learning online because of COVID-19, but teachers too dealt with their own stressors having to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. The bill for teachers was also a success in Illinois, and as of May 2022, teachers were granted the ability to use sick days for mental health recuperation.

Bill 0567 raises the possibility of mental health days for UChicago students outside of the leaves of absences already offered. While it would be beneficial for students struggling to keep up with high stress levels of class rigor, it would also pose the problem of being detrimental in our attemptsing to keep up with missed work. Our fast-paced quarter system makes it difficult for students to be able to miss classes, even if the reason is for mental health purposes. Having the ability to take a day off for mental health would become obsolete if students are still tasked with the responsibility of ensuring they do not fall behind or are unprepared when returning to class. Thus, offering mental health days for our student population would undoubtedly be a step forward in removing the stigma behind mental illness but possibly 2 steps back in actually providing a meaningful break. The question remains: what would implementing our own version of Bill 0567 at UChicago look like for students and employees?