![\"depressed](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/students-ohio-may-soon-get-up-excused-mental-health-days-sad-girl.png\" "\\"Students")
Thgusstavo Santana | Pexels<\/p>\n
Commenting on the bill, Senator Blackshear said, \u201cBesides being reactive, this is something that we need to be proactive and address head on because what we don\u2019t want to see happen is, is that kids continue to go through some of their struggles and they\u2019re not being addressed, but then we see it in the test scores, we see it in their attitudes. We see it in different ways, and then we\u2019re wondering why they\u2019re acting like this, or why they\u2019re performing like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bill defines a \u2018mental health day\u2019<\/a> as a school day during which a student attends to the student\u2019s emotional and psychological well-being in lieu of attending school,\u201d Landers said. A note from a medical professional would not be necessary, as it typically is when a student is physically ill.<\/p>\n RELATED: Former Teacher Explains Why She ‘Highly Recommends’ Parents Write Their Kids’ Names On Communal School Supplies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Mental health days are a new concept for schools, and would certainly be a welcome addition for many students.<\/p>\n The idea of mental health days<\/a> is still pretty taboo, and therefore unexplored in all areas of life, including work. Giving kids the chance to take the day off when their mental health is just too much would be incredible. I know this is something I would have benefited from when I was in school, as would many people I know.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, mental health is worsening in children, making this kind of thing all the more necessary. In 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General released an advisory called Protecting Your Mental Health<\/a>. That report found that in the ten-year period from 2009 to 2019, 40% more high school students said they had feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Additionally, there was a 28% increase in visits to emergency rooms for kids dealing with depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses between 2011 and 2015.<\/p>\n Of course, no one is untouched by this epidemic. That includes the state of Ohio, where Landers reported that one-in-three students struggle with anxiety.<\/p>\n RELATED: Dad Makes His Son Drop & Do Push-Ups As Punishment For Telling His Mom To \u2018Chill\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Normalizing mental health days would go a long way towards removing the stigma around mental illness.<\/p>\n We usually think of mental illness stigma<\/a> as being a kind of prejudice towards those who struggle with their mental health, but it\u2019s much more than that. The World Health Organization found<\/a> that stigma is present in diagnostics, laws, health information, and more. It is a very real issue that is affecting treatment in some cases.<\/p>\n Often, stigma like this is learned from a young age. Kids observe the adults around them acting a certain way about mental illness, and they follow suit. By educating them about mental health and giving them the option to take mental health days when they need them, we just might see the stigma dissipate.<\/p>\n![\"girl](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/students-ohio-may-soon-get-up-excused-mental-health-days-girl-mom-therapy.png\" "\\"Students")
Pavel Danilyuk | Pexels<\/p>\n![\"girl](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/students-ohio-may-soon-get-up-excused-mental-health-days-girl-doctor.png\" "\\"Students")
Pavel Danilyuk | Pexels<\/p>\n