Mentally ill students need real help, not days off

Evidence is mounting that the mental health of many young people is deteriorating, fed by the hardships of a pandemic and a shortage of professionals specializing in youth mental health. But mental illness among young people was spiraling upward long before the isolation of COVID-19 took its toll. 

Now Manhattan State Sen. Brad Hoylman is reintroducing a bill establishing “mental health days” to excuse school absences. He first sponsored the bill in 2019, and it has gradually gained support. Hoylman backs his push with disturbing data from a study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics that found that emergency room visits for youths who attempted suicide or had suicidal thoughts nearly doubled from 2007 to 2015, with 1.12 million people ages 5 through 18 going to emergency rooms for those reasons in 2015.

Even without such a study, it’s clear that smartphones, TikTok, Instagram, and the intense comparisons and competitiveness inherent in social media are warping the youth experience. Childish mistakes are immediately and permanently made public. Fear of missing out on the fun others seem to be having online is endemic. As a result of all this screen time, personal and social relationships with others are in decline. Drug abuse and suicide attempts are hauntingly frequent and parents, teachers, and the kids themselves are telling us they are in trouble.

The mental health of young people demands more attention and resources. But passing a state law establishing “mental health days” as an excuse for school absences would do more to trivialize such problems than treat them.

The bill calls on the education commissioner to write specific rules, but bases the initiative on a similar law in Oregon that allows up to five excused mental health days in three months, or up to 15 in a year, without any documentation. That’s wildly irresponsible.   

If a student is suffering from mental illness, the school must know. We’ve seen the violence that can erupt when such situations are ignored. But the image of “mental health days,” used to playfully justify playing hooky from work for years, doesn’t address the seriousness of school attendance, or youth mental illness. It evokes evasion of tough exams or homework deadlines, not psychological treatment. 

Taking a day off without actively addressing their mental health will likely do suffering students more harm than good, as they fall behind in class and stare at the screens and memes already darkening their moods. Students getting treatment for emotional problems already can take excused days off, because they have notes from doctors, psychologists, or counselors.

Many parents know kids simply need a break once in a long while, and give it to them. We don't need laws encouraging it and slapping a mental health label on it. When mental health problems are an issue, telling students they can take a day off without making sure they can get counseling really isn’t a solution.