Earlier this year, students, staff and caregivers across the New Richmond Exempted Village School District were asked to participate in a survey administered by 1N5, an organization devoted to reducing the stigma associated with mental health.
Roughly 1,200 responses were received. A total of 728 students, 169 staff members and 297 caregivers completed the survey.
On Monday, March 20, 1N5 founder Nancy Eigel-Miller spoke to the New Richmond Board of Education and highlighted several positives.
Seventy percent of surveyed students said they agreed or strongly agreed with feeling comfortable talking to a friend that may need mental health support. Sixty-eight percent said friends have helped them with mental health issues.
Seventy-two percent of students would tell an adult if a classmate was posting about suicide on social media. Sixty-five percent would encourage them to seek help.
Those numbers are different when the student themselves is the one going through the mental health troubles. Just 48 percent either agree or strongly agree that they feel comfortable reaching out to teachers or other adults for help.
“If it’s themselves, they’re much less likely to reach out for help than they are a classmate,” Eigel-Miller said.
Of the staff members surveyed, 53 percent said they don’t know the community resources for getting a colleague mental health help. Fifty percent of staff said they didn’t know the resources to help students and only 34 percent said the school has a clear action plan when a student needs help.
A list of resources available throughout the community can always be found on the New Richmond website.
Seventy-five percent of staff agreed staff members support each other. That same number agreed administrators are supportive of staff as well.
Eighty percent of surveyed staff members are proud to be a part of the school. Seventy-nine percent feel their building has a culture of caring for others.
Among the surveyed parents and caregivers, 77 percent agree that teachers and staff are supportive of students. Sixty-two percent say they feel teachers and staff help students work through their problems.
Eighty-four percent of caregivers like the school their child attends.
Ninety-one percent of caregivers believe the school should teach the students coping skills. Ninety-three percent believe mental health education should be taught in the schools.
The district has reviewed the building-by-building data shared by 1N5 and will share more on specific results and recommendations in the future.
“We believe there should be an overarching direction that you want to go, but that each building will look a little different,” Eigel-Miller said.