Student Feature: Sarah from Denver
Sarah is a 10th grader in Denver. She is passionate about dance, is an incredible mental health advocate, and serves on the Colorado Youth Congress. She offers an authentic student perspective on mental health, particularly in the time of COVID-19. Her insights are vital for any person--teacher, administrator, policy maker, or parent--to hear. Let’s meet her!
In 3-4 words, how would you describe yourself?
Work ethic. Perseverant. Empathetic.
When did you first learn about the concept of mental health?
Growing up as a dancer introduced me to the concept a lot younger than most people. If I'm estimating, this was around 4th or 5th grade. I went to a really conservative school, so there wasn’t any inclusion of students’ mental health; it was considered very taboo. Everyone had a facade of happiness or being okay all the time. At dance, every once in a while we’d sit in circles and talk about our mental health. I think discussion is more prevalent in the dance community because dancers tend to struggle a lot with eating disorders and self-harm, and dance and school together can be a lot of pressure.
What is the state of your peers’ mental health right now?
I’m operating on a very small sample size, but from what I can gather from my friends, we’re at an all-time low. My friends and I FaceTime every night. We just started talking about our mental health through Upstream--like what we find useful and what we find not useful. It came up organically, naturally. Almost every single person said they were struggling with something they would need more serious help for. It’s interesting we turn to each other because we’re so isolated and can’t access school supports we would normally have. I think that in and of itself is so difficult. I love school, but right now it’s school without every fun part. Going to classes--not seeing friends in the hallway or walking to get lunch together. I think all of those things helped to break the monotony of the day. So I think the main issue right now is that everyone feels like they're stuck in one day on a loop. Every morning they wake up three minutes before class starts, turn on the computer, mute themselves, sleep during their first three classes, get a snack, and sleep through the rest of their classes--barely passing. Online school is taxing, and the isolation exacerbates the situation.
What resources does your school provide to support students’ mental health?
To start, it’s difficult to access mental health supports even when we’re in person. One time during a Sources of Strengths meeting, they had everyone raise their hand if anyone knew where the social worker’s office was, and only three people raised their hand. It’s already very difficult for students to know they have access to it. Now, online, there’s no physical place to go. To get any mental health supports, you have to go through teachers, which I know a lot of students aren’t comfortable doing. At my school, a lot of mental health supports come from Upstream and the discussions surrounding it. The discussions aren’t scripted--they’re just between teachers and students. Also, any time classes are canceled or asynchronous, some teachers will offer students the Google Meet info just in case we want to talk. A lot of my teachers have made themselves readily available. At the end of quizzes sometimes we’ll have Google Forms where teachers ask, “What’s going on? What do you need from me? How would you like your teachers to be more understanding of your social emotional health?” At least at my school, I think teachers are taking on the responsibility of checking in with students, especially because students know it’s more difficult to access counselors and the social worker. So we get Google Forms, Google Meets, and discussions after Upstream lessons.
What mental health supports haven’t served you?
Sometimes teachers and a lot of the older generation have this toxically positive mentality when it comes to mental health: “Oh you’ll get through it. You're doing great. You’ll be fine.” Sometimes when you're upset, hearing that--and I know they mean to be encouraging or motivating--doesn’t always feel the best when you're in a tough spot.
Also, a lot of the rhetoric with mental and social emotional health can be really scary, too. I remember being terrified because all we talked about was suicide or really negative side effects mental health. That’s why I thought a lot of this stuff didn’t apply to me. That also made for a very uncomfortable conversation with students because we had a collective fear. No message of hope of positivity. I think definitely having more stories of hope and positivity in a way that is encouraging would be helpful.
If you could tell your teachers one thing related to mental health, what insight might you share?
I would love for teachers to respect that class work cannot always be a priority. I have a teacher who doesn't do late work--we can turn in work any time in the semester. There are due dates, but if you say that you need to take a mental health break, he’s really understanding. At the end of emails, he signs off with “Make sure to prioritize your mental and physical health.”