Mental Health Education by Artemis

Mental Health Education by Artemis - June 2025 Scholarship Essay

I think mental health classes should be required in every school. So many children and adolescents struggle with mental illness, and part of that struggle is the stigma around this subject as well as the lack of knowledge. If classes that teach the identification of mental illness and how to take care of yourself were required, or even offered, I believe students would benefit greatly. From personal experience, I did not receive proper mental health education. As a vulnerable middle schooler who was already struggling with severe anxiety and body image issues, I was grossly misinformed on the subject of mental illness, and this was extremely harmful to my recovery. Once I began learning about mental health from real trained professionals, I realize how absurd my seventh grade health class was. No "health teacher" should be advising their preteen students to lose weight, and yet that is what happens when mental health education is an afterthought in schools. Now that I have been through treatment, I understand my own mental illnesses, but that is not what it should take. Schools have a duty to educate their students as well as keep them safe, and in this area, many are falling short.