May is Mental Health Awareness Month and it's vital school staff and administrators recognize potential mental health issues in students.
The statistics surrounding mental health are alarming. Here are some statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health:
The National Institute of Mental Health is a great resource for information on mental health as well as ways to get help.
It's important for your staff to know and understand the link between student behavior and mental health. A student's mental health affects his or her classroom behavior. When a student causes disruption in the classroom, it can often be an indicator of more serious issues.
How can your staff identify and help a student with a potential mental illness? First, awareness is key. Be aware of the warning signs and changes in student behavior. If you have access to a school psychologist, he or she can be a valuable resource for students who may have potential mental health needs. If there isn't a school psychologist readily available in your school or district, there should be a district policy or procedure you should follow to help students with potential mental health issues.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, warning signs of a mental illness include:
We’ve created a Mental Health Awareness Tip Sheet to help you identify potential cases of mental illness.
Here at Vector Solutions, developers of SafeSchools, we strive to make schools a safer and more inclusive place for all staff and students. That’s why we’ve developed solutions to help your district meet those goals.
Our SafeSchools Online Training System offers courses to help schools train their staff and students on important mental health related topics, including:
Staff Training
Student Training
*Coming Fall 2020
We also offer SafeSchools Alert, our online tip reporting system that allows students, staff, and parents to confidentially report safety concerns to your administration 24/7/365 via mobile app, text, phone, email, and website.
For a free trial of SafeSchools Training or SafeSchools Alert, please fill out this form.