On Oct. 8, 2021, Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bills 14 and 224 into law, which allow for K-12 public school students to take five days off of school per year, citing mental health reasons, and have their absence cleared without question.
At face value, this seems like an important step in combating the teen mental health crisis (40 percent of teens report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness). When a student becomes too stressed, tired, or burnt-out to endure a full day of school, they can simply take the day off to recoup. The issue with this bill, however, is that taking time off from school does not help. In fact, it can exacerbate issues for students, who must make up missed work later.
According to EdSource, nearly half of California students are grappling with mental health challenges serious enough to impact their daily learning. Given such a high percentage, one might expect that a large number of these students would take time off of school to recover or manage their mental health. However, this is not reflected in attendance data. Only 13.5 percent of students in a 2020 Oregon study missed 11 or more days of school each year, and among students with mental and physical health conditions, that percentage only increased to 17 percent. This disconnect highlights a troubling reality: many students attend school despite severe mental health issues.
According to Stanford University, California high school students average 2.5 hours of homework each day. This means that if a student misses a day, homework hours quickly pile up. For many students, missing school is simply not something they can afford to do. At Berkeley High School, it’s up to teachers whether students have to make up work or not. Some students have understanding teachers, while others struggle with teachers who value homework completion.
A solution to this problem would be to provide homework passes to students in addition to offering days off. This way, mental health days can truly be opportunities for students to recover. Homework passes are not a way out of projects or tests; they are simply a way to free up time for students that can be used for recovery. In addition, students would be able to attend school in a more relaxed state of mind and dedicate more time and energy to in-class learning and development.
Mental health days are an important step but can’t serve their purpose if they increase stress. Schools must rethink how they support students during and after their time off.