Critique Essay: Mental Health Should Be Part of the Curriculum, Say Experts

Introduction

The article “Mental health should be part of the curriculum, say experts” by Adina Bresge came out on August 23, 2021. In this article, Bresge (2021) says that mental health education should be taught in the classroom. The author claims that psychological health literacy should prioritize three key goals: developing emotional literacy, reducing stigma, and producing everyday language. Bresger’s (2021) is written for a mentally literate readership. The author depicts the importance of incorporating mental health into the curriculum since it empowers students.

Overview

The author’s main objective is to persuade the reader of the value of mental sanity and the justifications for its inclusion in academics. The author has collected a range of student-related data to prove this point. The author also conveys a sense of credibility and supports her opinions with arguments. Bresge (2021) uses persuasive and argumentative rhetorical strategies to sway the audience. However, she does not provide sufficient evidence or reliable sources to support her assertions.

Tackling Mental Health Issues in Institutions

Bresge (2021) has done a great job of pointing out the importance of mental health and ways to articulate it, especially in schools. People living in places where mental illness is still taboo and hence not taken seriously will find this information helpful. Sensitization of the importance of mental health wellness is a great responsibility. The Mental Health Literacy Project is a program based on facts meant to help people who do not know much about mental health. It has a curriculum that can be used in different educational settings, which is interactive and focused on discussions.

The goal is to give people who work in mental health, teach about mental illness a common language and spread knowledge about mental illness while reducing stigma. Governments, schools, and doctors must work together to ensure students get the help they need for their mental health. Through them taking the collective initiative to work as a unit, students will be empowered about their mental health. Schools are essential in ensuring their students’ mental health needs are met. Governments and school boards are working tirelessly to prioritize mental health when getting ready for school.

Impacts of the Pandemic on Mental Health Issues

Young Canadians are getting more depressed due to the pandemic, and the lockdown has worsened the situation. Moreover, there are some problems with how things are done now to help students with mental health problems. For example, schools may not give students enough help to deal with the changes caused by the pandemic. Mental health literacy varies from region to region; hence the lessons should be curated to meet the needs of students. Furthermore, school mental health programs can be dull or unrelated to regular schoolwork, which may offer little to no help. For students to get the help they need, enough personnel should be recruited to must work with teachers since teachers are not trained to help with mental health issues. Even so, schools do not give mental health the same importance as subjects like math and reading. It has made students less knowledgeable about mental health and presented the issue with a bad name.

The curriculum can help schools make better suggestions for mental health services and give students who need help early access to care. As more attention is paid to young people’s mental health, interest in the curriculum has grown, and hundreds of schools in Canada and worldwide have adopted it. Governments, schools, and medical professionals must work together to help students entirely deal with their mental health issues.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how broken the mental health care system for Canadian students is, leading to more depression among young people. As students return to school, mental health and emotional literacy must be at the top of the list and part of the curriculum. The Mental Health Literacy Project has made a curriculum based on facts to help students learn more about mental health, reduce stigma, and learn about available resources.

Reference

According to experts, mental health must be part of the curriculum as students cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. (2021, August 18). Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/8121579/mental-health-curriculum-covid-pandemic/