2 days ago
Proposed bill would allow Pennsylvania students to take mental health days
PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — A representative announced plans to model new legislation after a current Utah law that allows students to take mental health days.
Representative Napoleon Nelson (D-Montgomery County) called mental health a 'significant issue' among students and youth. Adding that in a 2023 report, 98,000 students have depression and over half had not received care for their mental health.
'Additionally, high school students with depression are more than two times more likely to drop out than their peers, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents,' Nelson wrote.
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The proposed legislation would be modeled after a current law in Utah. The bill would allow students to take excused absences to recover from mental health issues, while not creating additional personal or sick days. An additional part of the legislation would require a staff member to talk to a student who has taken two or more mental health days.
In a memo to lawmakers, the additional part of the legislation would make it so that students can be connected to mental health support.
'Student mental health is just as important as physical health, and normalizing support for students with mental health issues has increased in the last several years. Teen mental health has been recognized as a crisis, and it is important for the Commonwealth to take charge in protecting the well-being of its citizens,' Nelson wrote.
Nelson argues that these are the benefits of the proposed legislation:
Normalizes mental health support and encourages students to take care of their mental health
Provides schools with additional insight
Would allow schools to connect students with essential supports rather than simply punishing them
The full memo to lawmakers can be read here.
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