South Windsor High School offers students a day off to catch up on their mental health. Although they only provide two days throughout the school year, it is considerate to the students who benefit from a day off. Mental health days give time to relax and clear your head so you can come back feeling ready. South Windsor High School recognizes mental health is important because it’s helping teachers and students build better connections. Teachers know when a student is not feeling well which helps to prevent them from overwhelming the student even more.

Sophomores are preparing for their hardest year yet. Some have already started studying for the SATs and looking at the careers they want to pursue in the future. Sophomore Taylor Kehoe, explained her concerns about only two mental health days. “If mental health is so important to the school, why do we only get two days out of the one hundred-ninety school days?” 

Amber Zeng, a senior at South Windsor High School, is the captain of the girl’s swim team. She practices four times a week, teaches young children how to swim, and has kept steady grades all four years of high school to get her into Bates University. “I have never not had a busy schedule. I try to make it to school on time, be at practice at five, finish my homework, and do hours of studying before I have to wake up and do it again. Yes, I do get stressed out, and I try to push through it, but when I get exhausted and take a day off it makes me feel better knowing it’s excused and teachers are aware,” said Zeng. “Two days are not enough though, school is stressful on its own, and adding extracurriculars causes more”.  

Personally, a mental health day once in a while keeps me on track and feeling good. I only have one more mental health day left, and it worries me that after that I won’t have an excused absence for when I need it. I understand how mental health days can be easily abused, but two for the whole school year is simply not enough. I suggest having two mental health days for each semester, so students know that if they need it they can have the day off worry-free.