Expert Tips on Supporting Student Mental Health
From The Jed Foundation
The number one role of educators is to share your knowledge and expertise with students, but educators also play a critical role in the development of adolescents and teens, and students need that support in an unprecedented way right now.
- In 2021, more than 40% of high school students said they experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness.
- Almost one in five students made a suicide plan.
- Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 34.
- Suicides in students ages five to 11 has risen 15% every year over the past decade.
Increasingly schools and educators are being asked to play a significant part in reversing those trends. In fact, teachers are considered “frontline personnel in supporting school efforts to address mental health concerns,” yet a large body of research shows that they rarely receive training in navigating these situations effectively and comfortably.
At The Jed Foundation, we partner with schools and empower educators with expertise, resources, and training to help you navigate this new landscape of student mental health with greater comfort, confidence, and success.
We created The High School Educator Guide to Supporting Student Mental Health to walk classroom leads — and other school-supporting personnel — through straightforward — but significant — steps you can take to:
- Support mental health in the classroom.
- Recognize a student who is struggling.
- Reach out to a struggling student.
- Follow school and legal protocols for reporting student distress.
- Connect students to professional help, if and when it is needed.
Most importantly, we want you to know that:
- You do not have to be a mental health professional to support a student with their mental health.
- You are never alone when you support students.
- You don’t have to provide care. You can be the bridge that connects them to it.
- It’s important to know your limits and balance service with self-care when you need it. In fact, you can model the practices you are recommending to your students, which will benefit everyone.
We are grateful for the invaluable work you do every day with students, and we hope this guide can make some of that work a little easier. Please download and share with colleagues.
The High School Educator Guide to Supporting Student Mental Health
