Modern schools are not just tasked with just providing an education for their students, but also with ensuring their well-being. Edina High School has taken steps in this direction by including crisis numbers on student IDs, a change that not only aligns with legislative requirements but also furthers the efforts by the school to promote mental health support.
Recently, the Minnesota State Legislature passed a law requiring districts to include crisis support phone numbers, such as 988—the suicide prevention hotline—and the county mobile crisis services number, on any ID card or custom planners that are printed for students.
Despite this change being mandated, Laura Livesay, a social worker at EHS, said that it has benefits for students. “I think the social awareness that it brings is great,” Livesay said. “It brings that question, ‘Oh, why is this here? Who might need this?’ It sparks some kind of insight into what your peers might be going through.”
These changes haven’t gone unseen by students. Senior Addeline Arfman outlines the significance of having crisis support numbers on student IDs. She thinks the addition has opened a door to awareness that might have remained closed otherwise. “I would have never known that those numbers existed if they weren’t on the ID,” Arfman said. “It’s definitely a good way to spread that resource.”
During the 2022-23 school year, mental health efforts became more widespread throughout the building. Posters promoting the suicide prevention hotline were placed in the bathrooms, but these signs didn’t stick around for very long after students took them down. The Edina Education Fund Student Board hosted a mental health week, which was supposed to include a day with hot chocolate and a weekend with no homework assigned. However, some students noted the abundance of homework that was ultimately assigned that weekend.
Despite these efforts, students still feel that EHS needs to emphasize the importance of mental health issues even more. “I think they could be doing a little more. I see posters around the building, but they’re kind of just there. They’ve never been pointed out,” Arfman said.
As more responsibility gets placed on schools, it is natural for them to need time to adapt to these changes. “We could always use more adults in the school whose job it is to support students, so I think they’re doing what they can,” Livesay said.
Communication of the resources available to students is an imperative step in ensuring the well-being of students, and something the administration has lacked in the past. However, Livesay remains optimistic about EHS’s administration’s improvements. “I’ve seen over the years it’s been better communicated,” Livesay said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on October 12, 2023.
