As students navigate the challenges of academic and personal life, it is important that they have access to mental health resources and pathways to support. A student's mental health can have a significant impact on their academic performance and overall success.
As an educator or mentor, checking in with students and creating a safe space for them to express their emotions is essential. It's equally important that students have pathways to support and resources available to manage their wellbeing. And this role can't sit solely with teachers.
The benefits of improving pathways to support and resources include:
Improved Academic Performance
Learning is an emotional business. Mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, and stress, can significantly impact a student's academic performance. These issues can affect a student's ability to focus, concentrate, and retain information. Additionally, mental health issues can lead to absenteeism, which can result in missed assignments and poor grades.
Preventative Measures
Mental health resources and pathways to support can also be used as preventative measures. By providing students with resources to manage their mental health, educators can help prevent mental health issues from escalating. Early intervention is critical when it comes to mental health, and providing students with access to mental health resources can help identify and address issues before they become more severe.
Healthy Coping Mechanisms
Providing mental health resources and pathways to support can also help students develop healthy coping mechanisms. Many mental health issues arise from a lack of coping skills, and providing students with tools to manage their emotions can help prevent issues from arising. For example, counseling services can teach students healthy ways to manage stress and anxiety, such as meditation, exercise, and deep breathing.
Reduced Stigma
Finally, mental health resources and pathways to support can help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. Many students may feel ashamed or embarrassed to seek help for mental health issues, and providing resources can help normalise seeking help. By creating a culture that supports mental health, educators can help reduce the stigma and make it easier for students to seek help when needed.
Some suggested resources from Skodel to support this at your school are:
Be You - https://beyou.edu.au/
Student Wellbeing Hub - https://studentwellbeinghub.edu.au/
Andrew Fuller - https://andrewfuller.com.au/#
Adding pathways to support and resources at your school
- A library of resources is already available via Be You and Student Wellbeing Hub. You can provide links to these for your students via your LMS or other operating systems that students interact with daily to increase awareness
- Providing links to allied professional health services, school counsellors or headspace centres in areas where students are, including online platforms like your LMS
- If you're using Skodel, we can customise our pathways to support features so that they fit around your schools existing structures such as counselling, resources and others.
