Dave & Dujanovic: Are you giving your kids too many mental health days?
Dec 6, 2024, 7:00 PM | Updated: Dec 7, 2024, 1:53 pm
Mental health days are adding up for students in Utah. (Canva)
(Canva)
SALT LAKE CITY — Mental health days are adding up for students in Utah.
Almost a fourth of Utah students in K-12 are considered chronically absent, according to a recent Utah State Board of Education public school report card.
A student is considered chronically absent when they miss at least 10% of school days, which can add up in as little as 18 days. This could mean a child quickly falling behind.
Related: ‘They’re behind in all aspects;’ Utah educators brainstorming ways to boost school attendance
What can parents do?
Licensed Clinical Social Worker Jessica Mertlich said that while it’s important to teach kids to take care of themselves, it’s also important to draw the line depending on the goal of that mental health day.
“Is our goal truly to give our kids one of many coping tools to take care of themselves. Is that the message that we’re sending? Or are we just kind of saying go for it, right? And maybe allowing it to become an avoidance response.”
Mertlich recommended that parents approach the stay-home decision logically. Telling parents to ask themselves questions like: What is the goal of this? Is this a one-off or is it becoming a pattern? Why is my child needing a mental health day?
“… Is it because, ‘Hey, we’ve had a really busy week. They’ve been studying so hard for tests.’ Now, the test is over, they have a light day. Yeah, let’s give them a break. Or is it because they’re trying to avoid some test anxiety? Or a conflict with a friend?”
Related: School absences rising in Utah and across nation
What can schools do when students call a mental health day?
Mertlich also said this doesn’t need to be just on the parents.
“I wish so much that when we decided, yes, let’s allow [mental health days] in schools that it may became with more checks and balances,” said Mertlich. “Because it has to get entered into the system, right? Is that system then shooting off a message to the counselor to say, hey, this person was listed as [taking] a mental health day. Are we doing a check-in with families? Are we really looking for some type of pattern that maybe leads to a question mark?”
Mertlich also suggested schools and parents look into some form of 504 plan to offer more support.
According to Mertlich, a 504 is an official document between the student, family, and school. It creates systems of support to make sure that a student is getting their needs met behaviorally and academically. For example, for a student suffering for anxiety or other mental health concerns they may need a more quiet space to test take, or even a break. A 504 is a legal document that would notify schools of that.
“A lot of times we think, okay, learning challenges, we’re definitely going to put something in place. We forget, we can actually do the same thing for students who have mental health concerns,” said Mertlich.
The important question we need to be asking is, when does it cross over from being a mental health day to being a mental health concern?
Mertlich also said, “We can’t support our student unless we’re seeking to understand.”
