Final Modes Essay
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School
Northern Virginia Community College *
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Course
111
Subject
English
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
Pages
5
Uploaded by ColonelCatMaster342
Rohan Radadiya
Prof. Beasley
Dual Enrollment English
17 November 2023
How can RRHS improve mental health issues in students through fostering increased
student-teacher communication?
Dear Mr. Duellman,
Compared to 100 years ago, lives nowadays are significantly harder to live, resulting
from an inflated economy and higher expectations to perform from employers. This affects not
only working adults, but also those on their way to becoming working adults: students. As the
expectation and pressure to do well in school increases, mental health decreases proportionally.
Teachers play a vital role in this process as they are the ones who control the learning process in
class as well as the amount of work a student has to do outside of class. The relationship between
a student and their teacher can affect that student's willingness to participate in that class,
actually learn content, and build intrinsic motivation to succeed in that class. Which begs the
question, what can we do as a school to improve mental health through creating a more
transparent relationship between students and teachers?
I am personally passionate about this topic because it is one that applies directly to me. I
am going through the college admissions process right now and it is becoming increasingly
apparent how much time and effort I can spend either working towards a college application or
doing work for a certain class. I simply do not have time to fully focus on both, which leads to
me either not doing as well in my classes or producing mediocre essays for colleges. As teachers
continue adding assignments to our to-do lists, it becomes obvious how a lacking student teacher
relationship affects our time management skills and mental health. However, it is not just the
objective intellect of a student that determines the level of stress and anxiety they go through. As
expressed by an article by Newport Institute in 2022, over half of high school students in the US
stress about taking tests, even if they are well prepared (
The Mental Health Toll of Academic
Pressure
). The societal pressure put on students, by their friends, family, and teachers is what
really gets to students. When you spend hours studying for the SAT and don’t get the desired
score, you feel demoralized and defeated. When you see your peers getting higher scores than
you, then being compared to them by your parents makes you feel worthless.
So how do we mitigate this feeling of worthlessness in students? The first is to address
that one test score does not determine your identity, and will not be the reason that you end up
living in a homeless shelter, dying alone. However, that is not something many students are able
to rationalize themselves, which is why I firmly believe fostering a healthy student-teacher
relationship can help students deal with the immense pressure they deal with on a daily basis. If
teachers had quarterly, semester, or even just one check up in an entire school year, students
would feel better about themselves and more comfortable with the teacher, leading to them
becoming positive assets in class.
Fostering a healthy student-teacher relationship can help students deal with the immense
pressure they deal with on a daily basis. An article from the American Psychological Association
in 2015 explains how a positive student-teacher relationship can increase “academic and social
development” (Rimm-Kaufman). By having teachers meet with students once a quarter, or even
once a semester, a healthy relationship can be made between students and teachers. A healthy
relationship causes a student to have an increased desire to learn and engage in their class,
reducing stress levels.
Another big part about the detriment in student mental health when looking at academics
is motivation. In the past, many of the brightest scholars have been intrinsically motivated,
having a deep connection with a certain subject to reach their goal. However, today many
students are extrinsically motivated, through the pressure of their family, friends, and even
teachers. While this is something that teachers cannot control, creating a comfortable
environment for students to grow through their own motivation can decrease the chances of
students burning out. As a teacher, would you rather have unengaged and quiet or attentive and
comfortable students in your classroom?
In sophomore year, I took an academic world history taught by Mr. Bector. The class
itself was not much different than the others I took, and I did not find it difficult either. However,
I made a core memory in that class in the beginning of second semester. Mr. Bector had a mental
health check-up – though it was really just to check up with students about their grades – with
each student and wanted to make sure that everyone was healthy. At the time, I thought the
check-in was pointless as I had a 100% in his class; however, reflecting back on the experience
made me understand how much better I felt knowing that this teacher cared about me, and not
just the performance I had in that class. Furthermore, I felt more comfortable participating in his
class. I was astonished at how such a small gesture from a teacher made such a large impact on
my mental wellbeing. In today's world, where academic excellence is a bigger priority at such a
young age, people often dismiss the mental wellbeing of those going through this. I am one of
those students who has worked tirelessly since I was a child and now, I wonder how my peers are
holding up.
Before exploring further into student-teacher relationships, let's look at an attempt at a
solution that has not worked: hiring a mental health counselor at RRHS. Someone who students
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can go to, on their own time, to get help. Though it may seem like an effective solution, it's really
just a convenient one. There are multiple flaws in this solution which have been overlooked. The
most glaring problem is the fact that students have to go on their own time if they want to seek
help. If students are spending all of their time going to classes and doing work outside of school
in order to achieve academic excellence, then when will they ever have the time to go to a
counselor? They will never have the time. Another problem is the fact that students have to be
the ones who go to the counselor if they want to seek help. This leads to high anxiety, being
forced to ask a stranger for help. Furthermore, many students don’t trust counselors, as they
might end up telling the student’s parents what the student said to them. This defeats the entire
point of going to counseling for help.
Looking at it comparatively, teachers having check-in sessions with students just makes
more sense. Students are able to get reassurance from people they know without having to waste
any more of their time outside of school, which works as a mutualistic relationship. Not only do
students gain confidence through support from a trusted adult like a teacher, but also teachers
gain attentive students who trust them enough to participate in class. Though there is not much
we as a school can do to mitigate this problem at its roots (changing the way students and their
parents think), there is a lot we can do to provide support in the classroom to take some of the
stress students experience off of their shoulders.
Works Cited
Mental Health Toll of Academic Pressure
. Newport Institute, 2021.
https://www.newportinstitute.com/resources/mental-health/academic-pressure/
Rimm-Kaufman, S., & Sandilos, L.
Improving students’ relationships with teachers to provide
essential supports for learning
. American Psychological Association, 2015.
https://www.apa.org/education-career/k12/relationships