My story has been a long one but to try my best to sum it up the most I can I would say that I have struggled a lot with mental health issues and a lot of my stressors have uncousensadently come from my high school experience. Stress starting from my school work to stress about my bullies the majority of my stress has come from school. In october of 2023 I ended up attempting suicide. One of the huge reasons why was because of the experience I had at my school. 

The CDC says that 36.7% of people aged twelve to seventeen have had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 15.1% had a major depressive episode, 18.8% have considered suicide, and 8.9% have attempted it. According to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). The second leading cause of death of people aged ten to fourteen is suicide. acmh-mi.org says "Mental health problems are common and often develop during childhood and adolescence." These statistics emphasize the importance of implementing a licensed counselor, especially for my school where an immediate, in-person resource is not provided.

The school was, and remains, unequipped to address these issues faced by its students. We require a trained mental health professional, to help navigate mental health issues at the school, and the damaging effects of bullying. School should be an environment that people are able to learn at not being dreaded everyday by students that face bullying and mental health issues. This is not just about my story, but about the future of students who might face similar struggles.

The school argues that it is none of their business about students mental health issues, but I argue the opposite. If there is mental health issues coming from the school then there needs to be mental health support coming from the school as well. They also argue that a mental health professional is not in the schools budget however it is completely in the schools budget, they are spending way more than necessary of the schools budget on sports which mind you probably is more than enough for a mental health professional and the amount needed for sports alone. Then after my attempt they just said that the future students that attempt suicide can just sign a contract that says they will not try to do that again which is so sick because they are just trying to cover their asses.

Although when I was struggling I had the opportunity to see mental health professionals. This is not the case for many students who are unable to access mental health services through any other means. The closest thing there is to having mental health support at PHHS is some of the teachers and they are not mental health professionals. It is detrimental that people struggling with their mental health are able to access the supports that they need. This would not only help students cope with the situations they are going through mental health wise but also with things going on a day to day basis in their lives.

If you care at all about mental health and the wellbeing of students please consider signing this petition It would benefit so many students at PHHS with their mental health and making school a safer place for students.

https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html​

https://www.acmh-mi.org/get-help/navigating/problems-at-school/​

https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/mental-health-by-the-numbers/