Mental Health Day is a BHSECQ tradition where students are given the opportunity to relax and enjoy a day off without the stress of falling behind. Though this day is beneficial for students, it causes additional stress and work for the faculty and admin – prompting debates over the day’s efficacy. MHD will still take place on December 20th, 2023, however, it’s crucial to focus on the effort put in by the faculty to make this day possible. Though students originally initiated the day, their involvement has since dwindled. This day wasn’t only created to help the student body, but the faculty and admin as well, and with the help of students, can return to its original purpose. Thus, sharing the stress of planning with more student clubs and organizations could be a solution to the issue faced by Bard faculty.
The first Mental Health Day was held on March 20th, 2019. It was proposed by a group of students in the Student Government and was supported by several faculty members including Dr. Morrison Jones, Professor Kaplan, and Professor Báez. The students, with the help of faculty, wrote up a five-page proposal for the day detailing their rationale behind it, certain workshops they had planned, and mental-health-related organizations they had contacted to come to BHSECQ.
There were to be two categories of workshops: one type being educational, and the other focusing on general health, wellness, and relaxation, of which students were supposed to choose from both.
According to their research, these students noticed that stress was a prevalent issue at Bard and would only worsen as time went on. And they were correct – a global pandemic would ensue the following March, further deteriorating the mental health of students.
The topic of mental health became more widely discussed in the midst of the pandemic, but in 2019, when the first Mental Health Day took place, there was still a stigma around it. This day was supposed to ease that stigma at Bard and bring it to the attention of students and faculty. This is especially prudent because stress levels at BHSECQ are higher than the average NYC high school due to the rigorous AA program.
The Mental Health Day committee contacted many organizations, that are still involved in Mental Health Days at BHSECQ to this day, including The Floating Hospital, The Child Mind Institute, and The Mental Health Association in NY State in preparation for March 20th. They also planned many activities in coordination with faculty such as Yoga with Professor Leizman, “Music for Relaxation” with Professor Kaplan, and Guided Meditation with Professor Chilas, just to name a few.
While Professors care about the mental well-being of students and want to be involved in the day, one complaint shared among faculty is that the workshops require a lot of effort and planning.
“My main complaint is that it becomes a stressful event day for all of the organizers,” said Professor Mills. Over the years, planning has fallen on the teachers and administration and student involvement has decreased. However, for the first Mental Health Day, the work was spread out among students and faculty which people felt to be much more manageable.
The majority of the BHSECQ faculty enjoy having a day off, however, the planning has restrained relaxing aspects. The pressure put on faculty members has created a dispute regarding the benefits of MHD. Nevertheless, when interviewing teachers, they seemed to have a mostly positive outlook on the day.
“I feel it’s a good idea, it just always seems to fall short in execution,” said Dr. Antonaglia. “If people keep in mind the spirit of the event I think it could have a lot of benefits.” As years go on, the passion that once existed diminishes and the purpose of the day is difficult to keep in mind.
Moreover, in an interview with Professor Mills, he discussed the root of the issue. “We need to take time to assess what the stresses are in our school. What is eroding us and wearing us down? Not just students but also the whole community,” said Professor Mills. Since the curriculum is experienced by students, it’s easy to forget who constructs and teaches it. Both students and teachers deal with copious amounts of anxiety which must be communicated. Knowing that the community around you shares similar feelings helps create a safer environment. While it’s evident that faculty deserve a day off, it is as necessary for them as for students.
With the issue of the student body experiencing such intense emotions, both Dr. A and Chris Chilas give their thoughts and grapple with an answer. They stated, “You have the freedom of a high school student which is small, and the workload of a college student which is large, there’s stress baked in,” said Dr. A. “One of the other issues is that we’re always short on time compared to some other schools,” added Professor Chilas. He explained that Bard has Writing and Thinking, BLM Day of Action, and faculty don’t hold classes during regents week so there is less time to teach the same material. This doesn’t mean that teachers don’t want the day to exist. The majority of the BHSECQ faculty does approve of MHD and believes it’s a good idea, especially with how the workload can affect students, it just needs to be more cared for by the students.
Similarly to the faculty, most BHSECQ students think that a Mental Health Day is necessary and beneficial when executed well. But what does a well-executed Mental Health Day look like for students? In general, students think that the workshops where teachers or guest speakers present on mental health are boring and unhelpful. The most beneficial workshops according to students were the creative ones such as soap making or ping pong. Students found them relaxing and a great way to spend time with friends.
“I really liked table tennis because it was an opportunity to hang out with your friends and play an amazing sport,” said Gideon Browne, a Year One. Gideon’s love of the creative workshops was accompanied by 62% of the BHSECQ student body who, when polled, answered that the creative workshops were their favorite. In this poll, 34% answered that the movies were their favorite and 4% said that workshops that fostered a safe environment to talk and share their opinions were their preferred activities.
In a recent article in Inc.com, it was revealed that creative activities such as doodling or coloring boost imagination and lower stress levels. These findings may contribute to the helpfulness and wide enjoyment of creative workshops on Mental Health Day.
Another widely loved and desired activity for Mental Health Day is trips. Students understand that trips cost money and that they aren’t always possible, but they have been a favorite of many in the past.
“I really loved the school trips and I get that the school can’t send students on trips like that often because it’s a lot of money but I really really enjoyed it. It was a real break to hang out with my friends, eat good food, do activities I actually wanted to do, and not have to worry about missing work,” said Maisie.
Overall, the popular sentiment among students is that Mental Health Days are successful when student opinions on how the day should go are taken into consideration.
“The activities should reflect the wants of the student body,” said Maisie Morrison, a Year One.
This would involve more student involvement in planning and communication between students and faculty. Professor Shapiro, among others, thought that communication was an issue at Bard.
“I think one of the problems is that I don’t think that teachers and students recognize what each of them is going through,” said Shapiro. “I think if the student body can make good concrete suggestions we’d be amenable to them.”
The point that the school environment may be a cause of stress has been raised by several teachers. One of the benefits of trips is that they take students out of this environment.
One student who wished to remain anonymous said, “This day serves as a reminder that school isn’t more than just work. The school with its accelerated curriculum is a lot of work, and it turns the building itself into a stressful environment. Just to have a day that reminds you that you are with your peers doing fun activities adds that social aspect of school back in.”
Professor Shapiro agreed. “The best thing to do is get us out of the building. I feel like the building itself is the place where you experience stress as students, why come here and expect you to be less stressed out.”
Since our current Mental Health Days need changes, there are some possible ways to go about planning the next one and things the community should focus on that could make it successful. An increase in student involvement is certainly needed for the day to run smoothly. With student involvement as well as communication, Mental Health Days would be more enjoyable. There could be polls taken of what students would prefer to do and an increase in student leadership in the Mental Health Day committee where they could reach out to guest speakers and plan workshops.