The state of mental health in the United States is concerning. According to a 2021 estimate, it’s been observed that at least one in five US adults lives with a mental illness.
That’s over 55 million US adults having to deal with mental health issues. The severity of these issues also varies, ranging from mild all the way up to extremely severe.
What’s more saddening about this is that these mental health issues don’t just concern US adults but also kids, particularly those in school.
Around 42 percent of US school students are suffering or have suffered at least once in their lives from mental health problems.
This statistic is worrying, and most parents are well aware of this and how poor mental health can impact their kids’ lives.
That’s why these parents always look for schools that can prioritize their kids’ mental health over everything else, often over academics, extracurricular activities (ECAs), and college admissions.
Given the situation, you, as a school headmaster, administrator, or someone from the school board, need to promote your school as a place that prioritizes your students’ mental health.
Otherwise, it’ll become difficult to convince parents that you’re doing everything necessary to cater to their kids’ mental health.
At the same time, your promotional or marketing strategies must also incorporate your plans to accommodate academics, ECAs, and college admission plans in the mix of all this.
The question is, how? How can you promote your school as a place that prioritizes your students’ mental health?
Let’s explore a few ideas and find out how this can be made possible.
State How High A Priority Students’ Mental Health is For Your School
Through your school’s promotional materials, you must state your school’s position on mental health issues and state how high of a priority it is.
In this case, the school’s headmaster, supervisor, or anyone from the school’s faculty or top-level management needs to openly address the school’s stance on mental health problems through promotional materials.
These statements on your school’s approach to dealing with mental health issues can be put out in public through brochures, posters, social media platforms, etc.
The best approach you can take is by posting videos on platforms like Facebook, where the videos highlight the statements your spokesperson makes and also point out the action plans you have in place to deal with these issues.
It’s also a good idea to talk about any possible success story from your school where you were successfully able to tackle a student’s mental health problem.
For instance, maybe a student was suffering from anxiety regarding college applications, but thanks to your school’s counseling service, they were able to deal with their anxiety and get admitted into their dream college.
Talk About The Skills Your School Counselors Have To Deal With Students’ Mental Health Problems
Highlight how many school counselors you have at your institution. Also, talk about their past experience in handling school students.
You should also make sure you have counselors who have an academic background in counseling studies.
Ideally, a master’s in School Counseling Education is a must for your school counselor.
Such a degree highlights the fact that the counselor is trained to deal with mental health problems and provide academic counseling.
When parents realize that their kids are being handled by an educated and experienced counselor, they’ll be relieved as they’ll know that their kids and their mental health are in good hands.
Highlight The Resources You Have To Provide Mental Health Support
Apart from the skills and experience of your counselor, you should also include the other resources you have to support your school students’ mental health.
These can include things like a dedicated mental health support room, emergency medical treatment, advanced therapy for students with severe problems, and so on.
You can also talk about any of your teachers who are also trained to cater to students’ mental health problems or are at least trained to take appropriate action whenever necessary.
Another thing you can include in your promotional materials is how you communicate with parents to tell them about their kids’ condition when necessary.
This is vital because parents want to be kept in the loop whenever the discussion is surrounding their kids’ mental health.
Kids suffering from mental health issues is indeed a serious discussion.
Therefore, you must assure parents and guardians that their kids are in safe hands at your school and that you have all the means necessary to help these kids with their mental health problems.
