Imagine waking up feeling completely drained, your mind filled with stress, and the thought of facing another day of school feels unbearable. A day filled with tests, practice, and homework piles up, and you need a break, just one day to reset. Until you remember you have already used your only two excused mental health days. What do you do?  Push through even if your mental health suffers? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, this is the reality for many students. This is why Stamford Public Schools must offer at least four mental health days per year, guaranteeing students one mental health day per quarter, and provide consistent support.

High school is more than just academics and attendance. It’s a job for students to balance homework, extracurriculars, jobs, or family responsibilities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 42% of high school students reported experiencing feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021, with 22% seriously considering suicide. Mental health challenges don’t just disappear after two days off, especially when students face stress year-round. Stress and burnout build up over time, especially around tests, projects, and for upperclassmen like myself SATs, ACTs, and college. That’s why students need at least four mental health days per school year or one per quarter to allow them to reset and deal with things before stress becomes overwhelming, or fearing if they take that one extra day off they will get an AGR.

Many schools allow only two mental health days per year, but that isn’t realistic. Stress hits randomly, and students shouldn’t have to ration their days off wondering if they should save them for a more difficult time later. Others argue that giving students more mental health days will lead to students overusing them as extra vacation time, but that wouldn’t be the case. According to the Child Mind Institute, students need time away from school to rest, recharge, and improve their mental health. They say that giving kids the chance to take them has significant benefits. Also, the National Alliance on Mental Illness supports public policies that recognize mental health as an acceptable reason to be absent from school. They argue that when students are feeling mentally unwell, taking time helps restore their health. When students are supported, they are more likely to stay engaged in school and are less likely to experience burnout. They will return to class more focused and motivated when they have proper health breaks.

Providing at least one mental health day per quarter helps ensure students will have a break if they need it. Each quarter comes with new challenges and various stress obstacles. By offering more mental health days, schools acknowledge that mental well-being is a need and encourage students to be ahead of their mental health rather than wait. Schools need to prioritize their students, starting with recognizing that two mental health days a year aren’t enough. Students’ well-being shouldn’t be an afterthought, and schools should be a healthy environment. By increasing the number of mental health days to at least four, schools can send a message that mental health matters to them and that students shouldn’t worry about their attendance but instead put themselves first.