Leo was a tenth grade student who did his work and kept his head down. He often wore dark, hooded clothing when he could, and tried not to draw attention to himself. His teachers would voice their concerns about him to the school counselor, who would proceed to bring Leo to their office and check in with him. They would chat, and the counselor would contact Leo’s parents, who told them that was just the kind of person he was.
Frankly, Leo was struggling mentally, as are thousands of teens across the country. Many schools in the nation are unable to provide solid mental health support, and the results are catastrophic. School shootings, suicides, and in school violence are just a fraction of the consequences, and can all be traced back to poor mental health support. These outcomes impact entire districts, states, countries, and you.
The lack of counselors in schools creates countless adverse effects on school environments, and something needs to be done to change that for the better. Today we’ll go over how past events, specifically COVID, got us to where we are today with mental health. We’ll then look at how this is impacting our students, teachers, and counselors alike. Next, we’ll evaluate what’s stopping us from reaching our goals, and conclude with the light at the end of the tunnel: solutions.
There is a major youth mental health crisis that is plaguing America and the world. A large cause of this is the Coronavirus outbreak that wreaked havoc on the planet beginning five years ago. The quarantine and lack of in person contact with others did numbers on the mental health of people all over.
It’s important for people to keep connections with others, and when they are unable to regularly interact with those people in person, like in the Coronavirus epidemic, the ties can weaken. Strong relationships are a vital aspect of sound mental health, and they were only getting worse due to the pandemic. A 2022 National Library of Medicine review reported that this can result in many mental health issues, including depression and anxiety. These issues prevailed throughout the entire epidemic, and when we emerged from it three years later, the situation didn’t really improve.
According to an article from the Hechinger Report published in 2022, 92 state laws were created within the first year and a half of the pandemic to combat youth mental health struggles. Nonetheless, we continue to see a huge lack of psychologists and counselors in schools. This leads to numerous effects on our school systems, none of which are good. However, there doesn’t appear to be a lot being done, creating even more problems that we need to find the solutions to.
This severe lack of mental health professionals in schools has a wide range of detrimental effects on both students and staff alike. A solid caseload for counselors is 250 students per professional as stated by a Wake Forest University article. When that number of students is passed, it becomes difficult for specialists to provide adequate mental health care to adolescents. In Minnesota, the ratio is 1:592, which is obviously way past the suitable amount; it also happens to be the third worst balance in the country. This leads to even more issues that negatively impact the entire student body.
Besides the obvious effect of student mental health going downhill, violence in schools can rise pretty quickly. One way schools have attempted to combat this is by placing law enforcement in schools, but it doesn’t seem to work very well. As stated by an American Civil Liberties Union article in 2019, police do what is expected of them: halt violence by detaining students. This may stop the difficulties in the short term but can lead to an escalation by estrangement and alienation among students. An increase in cops doesn’t mean a decrease in violence.
The ACLU article went on to state that 14 million students with law enforcement in their school have no psychologist, counselor, nurse, or social worker in the building. School counselors can’t be replaced by law enforcement under any circumstances. Instead, mental health professionals can provide care for those who may turn to violence, which is a much more proactive and practical solution.
This year, Mark Guarino at ABC News told the story of Trinity Shockley, who was an 18 year old student at Mooresville High School in Indiana. Trinity was denied mental health care, and as a result she grew increasingly unwell, leading to her thoughts of instigating a school shooting. Fortunately, her actions were stopped before the opportunity arose, but if she had received the mental health care she so desperately needed, things could’ve turned out differently for her.
In addition to violence increasing in schools, academic performance nosedives as a result of insufficient mental health support. The effects snowball and the overall well being of students plummets, not just their mental health.
One day, Leo came into the school counselor’s office. They had developed a sort of relationship from speaking every so often, and Leo came in on his own accord without the recommendation from any teachers. Leo approached his counselor and admitted to wanting to end his life. All of the signs led up to him confessing about his suicidal thoughts. Leo had developed a plan to kill himself. He was going to go home and use his fathers gun.
So why aren’t we taking action? What is standing in the way of creating better mental health systems for students before something happens that we can’t fix? There are a multitude of reasons that are stopping us from reaching these goals. One thing is clear: there just aren’t enough counselors. Furthermore, there isn’t enough funding for schools to hire more mental health professionals. In many places, especially rural and southern areas in the U.S., there is hardly enough to keep a decent amount of teachers in schools.
A high school counselor marketing article provides another reason for this counselor shortage: the growing student population. It increases the demand for counselors that we simply don’t have. This also creates higher stress for school psychologists because they are given an increased workload. This is another reason why there aren’t enough of them; the job doesn’t feel worth it. Counselors are given the task of caring for the mental health of students, but who is giving a second thought about the mental health of our counselors?
School mental health professionals are often spread extremely thin when dealing with both individual and schoolwide crises as explained by the American School Counselor Association. They have to jump from one situation to the next, often without stopping to think about their own care.
I haven’t even mentioned the administrative duties they’re tasked with on top of everything else they do for their schools. The National Education Association published an article by Mariah Solis in 2024 talking about the many responsibilities that are thrown at counselors. They may run paperwork, monitor different areas in their building, manage report cards and schedules, and many more duties tacked on to mental health care. With all of this piling on top of itself, it’s no wonder there is an exceedingly low number of school counselors.
Leo had worked up the courage to disclose to his counselor that he wanted, and was going to, take his own life. His school’s mental health system gave him the opportunity to reach out to someone, anyone, at the lowest point of his life.
The real question is how to fix this. Obviously we need more mental health professionals, but if we’re going to get anywhere, we need to create funding. With strong financial resources, we can also create better working environments for counselors, developing a better reputation for the profession.
Improving the working conditions can go a long way; reducing the tasks that psychologists are given can improve the job for them immensely, which in turn will strengthen mental health care. Eliminating administrative assignments from counselors already busy schedules will also go a long way, letting them focus on what they’re there for.
Robin Lanehurst, a counselor and teacher with over a decade of experience, wrote an article for Psychology Today, and talked about how psychologists are the only people who have the qualifications to properly care for mental health. Since this is the case, why are we giving them jobs others can do? Hiring employees who can complete administrative work would help schools substantially.
Furthermore, highlighting the importance for psychologists in the education system can draw attention to the job, showing the benefit the profession brings. Creating a healthy and positive environment for school counselors is the first step to bringing better mental health to our schools.
The school counselor immediately took action. They contacted Leo’s mother and he was brought to the emergency room. His mother was distraught at the thought of her child committing suicide. Thanks to the actions of his school counselor, Leo is alive today. Maybe Leo is your best friend, or the person sitting next to you. We can’t let these matters slip through the cracks any longer. By taking the proper steps, we can provide the same support to the thousands of adolescents like Leo who need it.
