Student Mental Health Crisis in America By Aloni Polanco

Research says that 61% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 feel stress over producing satisfactory grades. CJ Ford, a student athlete at Hill grove high school says,” I feel like hillgorve has expectations for students because with not only athletics but also academics we’ve had a lot of successful people come out of here so were expected to do our best in everything we do.” CJ explains that hillgorve has a great academic reputation so students carry the responsibility to keep it that way. But there is a possibility that having that responsibility could be overwhelming to students.

Around 8.3 million young people between the ages of 13 and 17 are getting counseling, medication, and other treatment. Katora, a junior at Hill grove says,” therapy could be good for students because a lot of people just to speak to someone who is unbiased, but this is something nobody really talks about openly so a lot of people our age doesn’t have a lot of guidance.” Katora points out how asking for help is not very normalized in society. Well, if it is not then it is something people. should work on fixing because help does not come easily to everyone. 

45% of young adults say they hesitate to see a therapist because their parents to take their concerns seriously. Ella, a sophomore at Hillgrove says,” my experience with asking adults for help has always been bad, they judge me and don’t even try to hide it and then they just make me feel like I’m being dramatic”. Ella feels like she can’t get the help she needs when shes lost because a lot of adults don’t know how to be a good support system. This can put a lot of weight on the shoulders of students and discourage them to take the steps necessary to move forward with their problems and better themselves. Students cannot strive to be the best without help.

 Academics can get you far in life. And it is necessary to live a good life. But students cannot get their full potential if they don’t have proper support to become the best that they can be.