How Effective is Well-Being at Uni High?
Written By Emily Barito
Managing poor mental health or mental illnesses is a tough road to navigate… that’s why there is slowly more awareness about this matter in our society today, for example, our schools. From primary school, students are already taught specific strategies to manage their emotions, such as deep breathing and counting to five. However, as they grow older and transition into high school, they quickly learn that this is often not the most effective way to deal with their overall mental health.
As a teenager myself, I deal with poor mental health, and even with the plethora of support around me I still find it hard to cope sometimes. Every so often, I will experience emotions that cannot be fixed with some simple advice or strategy. Still, I try my best to use strategies to cope - one being reaching out. However, this can be something difficult for a lot of people, and that is why schools now have a well-being team in place. University High School is also a place that values mental health highly, so naturally, they also have a well-being team here, ready for all of its students. I was curious, as many students claim that the wellbeing program at University High is not that successful. And so, I conducted this investigation to get to the bottom of why the program is perceived this way, and understand this issue from both the student body’s and the school’s perspective.
Firstly, I wanted to hear the student body’s voice first. Although I’ve heard many claims about the well-being team, I wanted to get to the bottom of this, with the help of some statistics. In a survey conducted through Compass, when asked if their mental health improved after going to the wellbeing office, many students did not specify that they had visited the wellbeing office more than once. 59% of students reported that their mental health did not improve after visiting the wellbeing office and 38% reported that it helped “a little/kind of”. Furthermore, students briefly described their experiences, and many students revealed that the advice they received “wasn't helpful”, even though the wellbeing team communicated with a “kind demeanour”.
Most students also agree that the wellbeing team at Uni High cannot offer meaningful counselling to students dealing with individualised problems - personal issues, such as problems with friends. To understand this, I interviewed one of my friends, a fellow Uni High student, and it was revealed that “most of the time, the wellbeing support doesn’t work properly, because they have more reactive solutions rather than preventative”, meaning students are mainly given solutions to matters once they occur, rather than ways to avoid and predict situations that could arise before they do, leading most students to believe the well-being team prefer to help students with generalised issues, rather than helping them solve their personal problems.
When asked about school-work and how that affects their well-being, some students claim that the wellbeing of students is not as prioritised as “much as it ought to be” and that “the school prioritises deadlines and expectations”. According to sources such as the Department of Health, the main factors of ill mental health in students is school - related stress and pressure, social media and difficulties in choosing a career path, and it is no secret that University High School prides itself on academic excellence.
After diving deep into the opinions of Uni High’s students, it was important for me to also understand the perspective of our school and clarify the many claims made by students. First things first - let’s get to know our school’s well-being team. I interviewed Tim, who is Uni High’s very own school counselor for students Year 7 to 10, and he explains that the wellbeing team is made up of “three trained staff, consisting of two counsellors and a social worker”, who all “aim to provide counselling services and wellbeing support to all students experiencing a challenging or difficult situation, either in school or out, helping dealing with mental health related concerns.” When I mentioned the students’ opinion that the well-being team does not like to help with personal issues, Time replies that personally, “at times, it can be challenging to provide counselling for specific problems. I think it is quite natural for anybody to find talking with someone about their challenging situations hard.” He adds: “I think it is important to engage in a lot of self-care to help manage those difficult situations, no matter who you are.”
Self-care is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health, especially in times of stress. The wellbeing team recognizes this and promotes self-care heavily at Uni High. Particularly, during the multiple lockdowns last year, the wellbeing team ensured that students at Uni High understood the importance of self-care. For instance, the Uni High wellbeing website illustrates many ways to take care of your mental health in the subcategory of “Staying Healthy Through COVID-19”.
It is apparent that the wellbeing team takes their jobs very seriously, ensuring that every student at Uni High feels heard and understood. Tim suggests that students, teachers and coordinators should “work together to provide a strong in school support network for the student. We can also get in contact with families and external support if the case requires.” The search for wellbeing support at Uni high should not stop at one visit to the wellbeing office - “students at Uni High are also terrific friends. I can see it through experiencing first-hand the amazing social interactions and from the conversations I have with students.” Tim emphasises that “leaning on the strengths of other students is a big one. Every person has their own strengths, interests and hobbies and putting focus on those aspects can often allow students to see their situation in a more positive light. I also encourage students to be their own problem solvers of their personal situations by providing different perspectives to which they may not have seen previously.”
At the beginning of this investigation, I initially thought that Uni High’s wellbeing team was not really effective at all, because I believed that mental health issues cannot be ‘fixed’, but need to be managed in different ways for different students, and I didn’t think that the wellbeing team did this very well. However, while writing this article, I’ve found that my opinions may have been a bit biased. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the wellbeing team at our school does not merely depend on one factor. However, the wellbeing team is reassuring and can support anyone going through any tough situation in their lives. Although many students claim that the support was not effective for them, it does not mean that it is not helpful at all. Finding a way to deal with one’s mental health takes time - not all strategies work for everyone. Overall, the wellbeing team highly suggests focusing on the positive light of a situation. Self-care, problem solving and talking to other students are just some of the many ways that students can improve mental health. If there is one thing to learn from this, it is that “If we all do our best to look out for one another, there’s no question we can ensure everyone is supported.”
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