Our Solution: A Combination
Rewriting 9th grade Mental Health Curriculum
Creating a decompression room
Remodeling the School Guidance Department
1. Explanation
Rewriting 9th Grade Health Curriculum: The solution that would initiate a change in mental health awareness and reduction of mental health disorders is to create a more inviting, accurate, and meaningful freshman health curriculum that teaches students about mental health disorders early on in their high school careers. In the past, freshman mental health units have not properly taught information in a way that students feel comfortable with or interested in. Oftentimes teachers have avoided some areas of the topic because they feel uncomfortable teaching it or feel that students aren’t comfortable learning the information. Our goal is to design the curriculum so that it is more hands-on and open to a variety of teacher and student comfort levels. In this solution, the state-level government will play a role in ensuring the information presented is valid and appropriate for a wide range of students.
Decompression room: We would also like to implement a decompression room in our schools un-used tutorial center. We propose to create a comforting space in this empty room, where we will have crafts, music, and open conversations about mental wellness. Creating a room where relaxation and a break from school is the focus will allow students to de-stress during the school day. Ridge High School has a tutorial center, that is currently un-used, and many groups such as the Wellness Club agree that we should make a space like this. We will paint, decorate, and revamp the room. For the activities, we would have arts and crafts, music, and other activities. Ridge would serve as the pilot program, and we would hope to expand this program to New Jersey.
Remodeling the guidance department: Our two initiatives for remodeling the guidance department focus on the physical space and emotional support of staff. For the physical space we want to get rid of all the college banners and instead paint the walls a nice color and put up students artwork to make the entrance to guidance less intimidating. We would also like to hire more Student Assistant Counselors (SACs) specifically to enforce mental well being and give emotional support.
2. Reasoning
The advantage of this solution is the increased well-being of students. We chose to combine these three solutions as we cannot ignore the fact that mental health is a multi-faceted issue that can only be solved by addressing all aspects. These solutions in particular offer the development of stress-relieving skills. Based on the personal experiences of Ridge High School students and from the information collected from surveys, we have concluded that mental health is a prevalent and serious issue. If our plan is enacted, students will be able to learn about mental illnesses and disorders, allowing them to identify their symptoms earlier and feel less isolated. Not only will this allow students to recognize the symptoms themselves, but it will also allow them to recognize symptoms in those around them. Such an educational and informative course will encourage adolescents to seek help and look out for one another. As a whole, our solution will teach students to be more open and honest about the things they struggle with, as they learn that they never have to deal with these alone. Students will also learn this through going to the decompression room because they will be there with other students who are also having a stressful day and they can relate to one another by knowing they are all experiencing the same things. This will improve the overall atmosphere of high schools when it comes to discussing topics such as mental health. Another advantage of our chosen solution is making a learning environment about a sensitive topic a lot less tense and more comfortable. When we asked AP psychology teacher Mrs. Rieder about the way in which she teaches her mental health unit, she stated, “I...encourage people to treat this sensitively because it is a sensitive topic. I am also very careful in the language that I use when discussing it, [and] I don't use common phrases” (Schapiro)¹. We truly want the 9th grade unit to be appealing and appropriately taught to students. Many students in high school suffer from a mental health disorder or know someone that does, so if they are at ease learning about them, then they will most likely be more at ease when helping themselves or someone struggling with one. As stated by Laura Rieder, “[What is taught in 9th grade health] really should be [what] is most commonly affecting your actual student body… So, if Ridge has a stress and anxiety issue, then we should be discussing anxiety disorders. If we have a lot of students who are suffering from mood disorders, we should be discussing those as well. Because, there are going to be students who maybe never dealt with anxiety until they got to high school. And maybe now it is starting to hit them and a lot of these transitions, stressors, and pressures associated with being a high schooler at ridge high school” (Schapiro)¹. Thus, to alleviate this negativity in the lives of first year high school students and allow them immediate relief, a better freshman mental health program would be very beneficial.
With a decompression room, we believe students will be able to relax and de-stress. This solution will encourage an open discussion of mental health and decrease the stigma surrounding these issues. Chatham High School of New Jersey has instituted a decompression chamber, where students can relax from the stressful school day and participate in calming activities such as arts and crafts. This is very successful for them and would definitely have a positive impact on Ridge Students as well.
The friendlier guidance is needed because with all the college banners, some students may get the impression that the guidance counselors are only there for scheduling and college planning, which is not the case. Our reason for wanting more SACs is that those students who actually need the support sometimes find it difficult to visit the SACs during there school day because of their schedule. We hope that SACs can visit the decompression room and talk to the students. We believe that because mental health is such a pressing topic in our school, the Student Assistant Counselors should be prioritizing their students well being. Not a single member in our group has visited a SAC, and some of us did not know our school had them! The current counselors simply do not have time to help suffering students because they are so focused on college prep and scheduling. This is why we want to increase the number of SACs, with experience in mental wellness, to prioritize student's well being.
3. Supporters The supporters of our proposed solution would be students, parents, and teachers. When polled, 86.6% of students either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement: “I wish there was more that could be done to minimize student stress and mental health issues at Ridge” (Trucco)². Therefore, if our solution is implemented, students would support the new curriculum, as something is being done to help them and their peers cope with mental health issues and other problems associated with mental health issues. Also a decompression room will allow students to get away from all there stress for one period and do different distressful activities. A friendlier guidance department with more SACs students would support because they will feel more comfortable talking to there guidance counselor about things not school related. Parents will also be in support of our proposed solution. When children are suffering, their parents suffer with them. If the mental health and overall well-being of children are increased by a better education on mental illness, and being able to distress during the school day, parents will be in support of implementing our proposed solution. Teachers will be in support of our proposed solution because as educators, they want to see their students getting a full education and doing the best they can in school. But this experience can be affected by mental illness. In order for all students to enjoy their education and to be the best they can be, a better health curriculum, a decompression room and a friendly guidance experience will be necessary in order to help students cope with the struggles they may face along the way.
4. Opponents Some individuals who may oppose this solution include the Physical Health and Education staff, who would be teaching this revamped course, who may dislike the idea of not using the same materials and lessons they have used in years past. In addition, as we would like the new SACs to have skills in helping students who are struggling, this will require funding.
5. Implementation The purpose of implementing our solution is to make mental health a topic of discussion, in a beneficial manner, so it is important that our schools respond positively. In order to make a change in Basking Ridge, we will need the members of the Board of Education to be on board. Those who created the current curriculum will have to agree to this adjustment as well. Through the support of many teachers, parents, and students, we believe this can be done. By meeting with policy makers and changing the common core, we can change the curriculum in our school.
6. Funding Organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness give presentations and training sessions to school staff, free of charge. These informational presentations/trainings could be built into the professional development days, allowing our health teachers to gain a better understanding of mental illness in teens and how to teach the subject properly. In addition, Volunteer work would be necessary between students, SACs and parents to create a comprehensible curriculum ideal for our own students. This solution would be set into place through the efforts of volunteers donating their time and funds into materials necessary, including creation of curriculum content and engaging activities.
7. Constitutionality Our solution is constitutional as supported under the Ninth Amendment, addressing that rights not specifically stated in the constitution are still, indeed, rights of American citizens. Comprehensive mental health education, while not outlined in the foundation of the United States, is as necessary to the safety and success of students as other courses that are mandatory to high school freshmen. Allowing the cycle of mediocre mental health education within Ridge High School to continue does nothing but hinder the youth of Basking Ridge; addressing the issue and correcting the ninth grade health curriculum allows for demonstration of education on extremely important topics, which is a basic right to all public high school students. On the same token, found under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, states cannot restrict the basic rights of citizens under any circumstances within jurisdiction of law; thus, American high school students cannot be denied or held back from being properly, comfortably, and beneficially educated on such an important matter to their lives. Thirdly, our proposal is supported under the 10th Amendment, stating that powers not given expressly to the federal government inherently belong to the states or to the people. Thus, education is inherently a state power, to be determined by the residents of a state and no one else- not excluding mental health education.
8. Why This Solution We believe that an excellent education is the start to all good things. If there is a good mental health curriculum at a young enough grade such as 9th grade it will make a huge difference for the rest of high school. When students enter high school there stress levels tend to increase because everything is more important and has a bigger impact on ones future. A lot of times students do not know how to deal with it and the effects it can have on themselves. This is why there needs to be a good 9th grade health curriculum to inform all students of the different mental health disorders in an inviting and informative way. This will allow students to feel comfortable assessing themselves and seeing if they have a mental health problem, and if they do they will not feel as bad getting help for it. We want mental health to be a subject that people do not avoid talking about, and have it be something that they are knowledgeable about so they can see if they or their friends have any symptoms. In order to see a change we need to start from the basics and that is with a proper educational foundation.
Rewriting 9th Grade Health Curriculum: The solution that would initiate a change in mental health awareness and reduction of mental health disorders is to create a more inviting, accurate, and meaningful freshman health curriculum that teaches students about mental health disorders early on in their high school careers. In the past, freshman mental health units have not properly taught information in a way that students feel comfortable with or interested in. Oftentimes teachers have avoided some areas of the topic because they feel uncomfortable teaching it or feel that students aren’t comfortable learning the information. Our goal is to design the curriculum so that it is more hands-on and open to a variety of teacher and student comfort levels. In this solution, the state-level government will play a role in ensuring the information presented is valid and appropriate for a wide range of students.
Decompression room: We would also like to implement a decompression room in our schools un-used tutorial center. We propose to create a comforting space in this empty room, where we will have crafts, music, and open conversations about mental wellness. Creating a room where relaxation and a break from school is the focus will allow students to de-stress during the school day. Ridge High School has a tutorial center, that is currently un-used, and many groups such as the Wellness Club agree that we should make a space like this. We will paint, decorate, and revamp the room. For the activities, we would have arts and crafts, music, and other activities. Ridge would serve as the pilot program, and we would hope to expand this program to New Jersey.
Remodeling the guidance department: Our two initiatives for remodeling the guidance department focus on the physical space and emotional support of staff. For the physical space we want to get rid of all the college banners and instead paint the walls a nice color and put up students artwork to make the entrance to guidance less intimidating. We would also like to hire more Student Assistant Counselors (SACs) specifically to enforce mental well being and give emotional support.
2. Reasoning
The advantage of this solution is the increased well-being of students. We chose to combine these three solutions as we cannot ignore the fact that mental health is a multi-faceted issue that can only be solved by addressing all aspects. These solutions in particular offer the development of stress-relieving skills. Based on the personal experiences of Ridge High School students and from the information collected from surveys, we have concluded that mental health is a prevalent and serious issue. If our plan is enacted, students will be able to learn about mental illnesses and disorders, allowing them to identify their symptoms earlier and feel less isolated. Not only will this allow students to recognize the symptoms themselves, but it will also allow them to recognize symptoms in those around them. Such an educational and informative course will encourage adolescents to seek help and look out for one another. As a whole, our solution will teach students to be more open and honest about the things they struggle with, as they learn that they never have to deal with these alone. Students will also learn this through going to the decompression room because they will be there with other students who are also having a stressful day and they can relate to one another by knowing they are all experiencing the same things. This will improve the overall atmosphere of high schools when it comes to discussing topics such as mental health. Another advantage of our chosen solution is making a learning environment about a sensitive topic a lot less tense and more comfortable. When we asked AP psychology teacher Mrs. Rieder about the way in which she teaches her mental health unit, she stated, “I...encourage people to treat this sensitively because it is a sensitive topic. I am also very careful in the language that I use when discussing it, [and] I don't use common phrases” (Schapiro)¹. We truly want the 9th grade unit to be appealing and appropriately taught to students. Many students in high school suffer from a mental health disorder or know someone that does, so if they are at ease learning about them, then they will most likely be more at ease when helping themselves or someone struggling with one. As stated by Laura Rieder, “[What is taught in 9th grade health] really should be [what] is most commonly affecting your actual student body… So, if Ridge has a stress and anxiety issue, then we should be discussing anxiety disorders. If we have a lot of students who are suffering from mood disorders, we should be discussing those as well. Because, there are going to be students who maybe never dealt with anxiety until they got to high school. And maybe now it is starting to hit them and a lot of these transitions, stressors, and pressures associated with being a high schooler at ridge high school” (Schapiro)¹. Thus, to alleviate this negativity in the lives of first year high school students and allow them immediate relief, a better freshman mental health program would be very beneficial.
With a decompression room, we believe students will be able to relax and de-stress. This solution will encourage an open discussion of mental health and decrease the stigma surrounding these issues. Chatham High School of New Jersey has instituted a decompression chamber, where students can relax from the stressful school day and participate in calming activities such as arts and crafts. This is very successful for them and would definitely have a positive impact on Ridge Students as well.
The friendlier guidance is needed because with all the college banners, some students may get the impression that the guidance counselors are only there for scheduling and college planning, which is not the case. Our reason for wanting more SACs is that those students who actually need the support sometimes find it difficult to visit the SACs during there school day because of their schedule. We hope that SACs can visit the decompression room and talk to the students. We believe that because mental health is such a pressing topic in our school, the Student Assistant Counselors should be prioritizing their students well being. Not a single member in our group has visited a SAC, and some of us did not know our school had them! The current counselors simply do not have time to help suffering students because they are so focused on college prep and scheduling. This is why we want to increase the number of SACs, with experience in mental wellness, to prioritize student's well being.
3. Supporters The supporters of our proposed solution would be students, parents, and teachers. When polled, 86.6% of students either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement: “I wish there was more that could be done to minimize student stress and mental health issues at Ridge” (Trucco)². Therefore, if our solution is implemented, students would support the new curriculum, as something is being done to help them and their peers cope with mental health issues and other problems associated with mental health issues. Also a decompression room will allow students to get away from all there stress for one period and do different distressful activities. A friendlier guidance department with more SACs students would support because they will feel more comfortable talking to there guidance counselor about things not school related. Parents will also be in support of our proposed solution. When children are suffering, their parents suffer with them. If the mental health and overall well-being of children are increased by a better education on mental illness, and being able to distress during the school day, parents will be in support of implementing our proposed solution. Teachers will be in support of our proposed solution because as educators, they want to see their students getting a full education and doing the best they can in school. But this experience can be affected by mental illness. In order for all students to enjoy their education and to be the best they can be, a better health curriculum, a decompression room and a friendly guidance experience will be necessary in order to help students cope with the struggles they may face along the way.
4. Opponents Some individuals who may oppose this solution include the Physical Health and Education staff, who would be teaching this revamped course, who may dislike the idea of not using the same materials and lessons they have used in years past. In addition, as we would like the new SACs to have skills in helping students who are struggling, this will require funding.
5. Implementation The purpose of implementing our solution is to make mental health a topic of discussion, in a beneficial manner, so it is important that our schools respond positively. In order to make a change in Basking Ridge, we will need the members of the Board of Education to be on board. Those who created the current curriculum will have to agree to this adjustment as well. Through the support of many teachers, parents, and students, we believe this can be done. By meeting with policy makers and changing the common core, we can change the curriculum in our school.
6. Funding Organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness give presentations and training sessions to school staff, free of charge. These informational presentations/trainings could be built into the professional development days, allowing our health teachers to gain a better understanding of mental illness in teens and how to teach the subject properly. In addition, Volunteer work would be necessary between students, SACs and parents to create a comprehensible curriculum ideal for our own students. This solution would be set into place through the efforts of volunteers donating their time and funds into materials necessary, including creation of curriculum content and engaging activities.
7. Constitutionality Our solution is constitutional as supported under the Ninth Amendment, addressing that rights not specifically stated in the constitution are still, indeed, rights of American citizens. Comprehensive mental health education, while not outlined in the foundation of the United States, is as necessary to the safety and success of students as other courses that are mandatory to high school freshmen. Allowing the cycle of mediocre mental health education within Ridge High School to continue does nothing but hinder the youth of Basking Ridge; addressing the issue and correcting the ninth grade health curriculum allows for demonstration of education on extremely important topics, which is a basic right to all public high school students. On the same token, found under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, states cannot restrict the basic rights of citizens under any circumstances within jurisdiction of law; thus, American high school students cannot be denied or held back from being properly, comfortably, and beneficially educated on such an important matter to their lives. Thirdly, our proposal is supported under the 10th Amendment, stating that powers not given expressly to the federal government inherently belong to the states or to the people. Thus, education is inherently a state power, to be determined by the residents of a state and no one else- not excluding mental health education.
8. Why This Solution We believe that an excellent education is the start to all good things. If there is a good mental health curriculum at a young enough grade such as 9th grade it will make a huge difference for the rest of high school. When students enter high school there stress levels tend to increase because everything is more important and has a bigger impact on ones future. A lot of times students do not know how to deal with it and the effects it can have on themselves. This is why there needs to be a good 9th grade health curriculum to inform all students of the different mental health disorders in an inviting and informative way. This will allow students to feel comfortable assessing themselves and seeing if they have a mental health problem, and if they do they will not feel as bad getting help for it. We want mental health to be a subject that people do not avoid talking about, and have it be something that they are knowledgeable about so they can see if they or their friends have any symptoms. In order to see a change we need to start from the basics and that is with a proper educational foundation.
Our Solution Pros
Students will receive the tools needed to deal with mental health issues, and will be encouraged of positive coping mechanisms. Parents will be relieved of stress as their children are well educated on the topic of mental health and will know what to do in certain situations. |
Our Solution Cons
Training our health teachers on how to properly educate students on mental health disorders will require time and funding. It will take time to rewrite the 9th grade health curriculum, as they have been teaching the same material for years, and teachers may have difficulty with the changes. |