One out of five children have some type of mental illness, and schools often do not help in any way. The issue that these students face is not getting enough attention in school. Furthermore, schools are not paying enough attention to mental illness, and this is shown through schools being oblivious towards mental illness, the issues students go through and schools not being equipped to teach students with mental illnesses.

    First of all, some schools are oblivious or unaware of the mental illnesses that some students may have. This is an issue because some students may need extra help to keep up with their schoolwork. According to an article by PBS, “Half of them drop out in high school, in part because many schools don’t manage to meet their needs.”

    This shows that schools are clearly unaware of mental illnesses, therefore, causing students to drop out because they are not getting the help they need.

    Also, many times schools do not pay attention to the clear signs of mental issues that students show. According to an article by National Public Radio, “Katie said teachers acted like she didn’t care about her schoolwork.” In reality, Katie was struggling with depression, and it caused her grades to drop. This shows that schools are unaware of the issues students might have, and ignore the students needs because they are oblivious to what may be going on with the student. Through these excerpts, it is shown that schools do not pay enough attention to mental illness.

    Furthermore, the issues that students go through show that schools do not pay enough attention to mental illness. Schools do not help students with their issues, and this causes them to do worse in school. According to an article by National Public Radio, “Katie Johnson says that in a span of a few months, she went from honor roll to failing.” So, due to her depression, her grades started to fall, and the school did nothing to help her. In addition, the same article stated,”So in a school classroom of 25 students, five of them may be struggling with the same issues many adults deal with: depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.” These issues are very common, especially among teens, and can cause problems with a student’s school work ethic. The various mental issues and the severity of of these illnesses that students may have show that schools do not pay enough attention to mental illness.

    Lastly, schools are not equipped to teach students with mental illnesses. An article by Mindshift states, “To make it worse, most teachers are given very little training on how to detect mental health disorders in students.” Teachers do not know how to teach students with mental illnesses, and this proves that schools do not pay enough attention to students with mental illnesses. Also, in an article published by The Atlantic, Jessica Lahey states, “Teachers aren’t even aware of mental health practices used by other staff in the building where they work.” Teachers do not even know that their coworkers are teaching in different ways to help their students with mental illnesses, which clearly shows that many schools are not equipped with teachers that know how to teach in ways that make learning easier for students with mental illnesses.

     Schools do not pay enough attention to mental illness. Schools do not even notice mental illnesses. Also, many students go through different mental issues that go unsolved. And, schools do not have teachers who are aware of the correct way to teach students with mental illnesses. Because of these factors, schools do not pay enough attention to mental illness.