Why students should have mental health days | Hailey Hardcastle

School can be rife with stress, anxiety, panic attacks and even burnout — but there's often no formal policy for students who need to prioritize their well-being. Hailey Hardcastle explains why schools should offer mental health days and allow students time to practice emotional hygiene without stigma. Follow along to learn how she and a team of fellow teens transformed their advocacy into law.

[jaxayesa]

I know a lot of students would use their mental health days to ditch school but just as many students like myself really need them.

[sublimedime]

Schools: I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see that

[kunakornpuvanart]

"It is always OK to be not OK, and It's OK to take a break" It deeply touched my heart

[remzremedy]

Look out for the children, especially the ones that look like they have it all together 💛🖤

[AuthenticMentalHealth]

Your mental health is so important! If you’re reading this and you’re currently struggling with yours, you are NOT alone❤️

[loftyblond]

I think it takes a certain maturity and self-awareness to first acknowledge that you need a "mental health day", and then to use it wisely.

[ero]

Mental health days are so necessary. One day, I was home and realized my brother didn't go to school. When I asked him why he didn't go, he said he felt sad and asked if he could just hung out with me. I was really surprised. He didn't tell me why he was sad but I tried to cheer him up as much as I could.

[alberto]

My parents: Lmao why you sad if you get bad grades study harder.

[Ryka]

She starts off the presentation with her own stories. She talks about how everyone goes through mental health problems. She speaks about how she did something about the problem and is trying to benefit others with it. She walks around and moves her arms a bit so that she isn't just standing stiff while talking. She's showing confidence by talking in a strong voice. She also knows what she's talking about and she isn't reading off a script. She ends it off with an ending modivational statement. She also asks the croud a question do keep it in there minds.

[jacksonls]

“ I worried about a lot of things other kids didn’t” I always said the same thing

[cooky]

I remember 9th grade, I'd had a rough month school-wise, we suffered a loss within the family and a test I was woefully unprepared for was coming up. My mom noticed how stressed I was and allowed me to take a day off, calling me in as sick. I had a day to relax and catch up on several things. It is strange, how something like not going to school, deviating from the daily schedule for a bit, helped me feel better.

Now with the pandemic and having school online, I never feel like I can take a day off and have suffered not just one, but two panic attacks in the last two months, my first and second ever. If there's no set routine to take a step back from, things get harder to manage, and I've never wanted to go back to school this desperately, just to get a day away from my head.

[homiebreadpill]

My high school acts all "oh yeah we really care about our students' mental health!" but they don't let us have mental health days, we tend to get in trouble for 'disturbing' the class with a panic attack, and, if we aren't in trouble, then we're left in the hall until we 'settle down'. They don't try to address the situation or try to fix it. They just leave you until you can bottle your feelings back up

[alissahadley]

Mental health days definitely helped me a lot . I have anxiety and could get overwhelmed very easily . My mum was happy for me to have the occasion day off as long as I was missing nothing important at school that day and caught up at home . Always gave me a sense of control again.

[sofiaoffredi]

This makes me cry. I have a breakdown today and i was hard bc i have so many in this month and i tired to be sick. Thank you for this words, this video and your brave

[djeframe]

I resonated with this. Last year was a very difficult year for me, I had trouble with my studies at university, and needed mental health days, I even had my doctor write a letter for me to give to my course co-ordinators. But the university's board of education deemed it unworthy of missing any classes, even though I was catching up on the work they failed me from my course and it will always be on my record now.

[bishopprenton]

I can understand this. It’s also a person to person issue. You’ll only ever know if there are problems if people are more open. It’s great she’s speaking on this issue.

[pauliendauwe]

This video touched me in a positive way. Many students skip school, pretending to be sick. When mental health days are introduced, people shouldn't lie about this anymore. I think it's great that this is being talked about more and more so that it becomes less of a taboo. It's something that everyone has problems with, but is never really talked about. I hope this is really taken into consideration.

[kjmr]

I'm 24, just got my first real career job. I struggled with these same issues and still do. When I was a kid, they gave me concerta and then adderall to fix my issues. Told me to go to the bathroom if I feel like I'm going to have an anxiety attack. It didnt work. When I was 22 and in college, I decided to go see a therapist, therapy worked better than any pill ever did.

[Jester]

Personally, this should be at least introduced to politicians around the world. Even if not adopted, this should be a vocal point for all.
In schools, I can vouch that mental health is not respected like it should be. The themes (at least in my school) of mental health were mocked by members of staff. Mocked. I know that as someone who suffers silently, people making those snide remarks don't help, it makes people worse thinking that struggling is bad.
It's ok to be not ok, but people don't see that.

[jesrielbarangian]

I like how she talks; she's calm, and her voice is loud and clear. Her gestures are really good because she faces every angle of the audience. She also made great eye contact with the audience. Her facial expression also has a great impact on delivering the message. I can relate to her message because I also experience mental breakdowns where I can't finish my activities on time. I like how she says it's okay not to be okay because, in this world, everything is complicated. And the way she reminds us that we should look out for each other is really caring. And let's always remember that mental health challenges are not going away, so we should manage them by looking after one another.❤❤❤