Student health is a very important topic that most schools decide to ignore. The mental and emotional health of students are both very important. These two can decrease for many reasons, one of them being the lack of sleep. 7 out of 10 high schoolers reported not getting enough sleep. The lack of sleep can cause many health problems including the decrease in your mental and emotional health which are connected. I believe that schools should pay more attention to students' mental and emotional health because many schools continue to give out work/homework and assignments, increasing the level of stress and tension on students and their daily lives making things much harder for them and their health. An estimated 1.2 million children and youth in Canada are affected by mental illness yet only around 20% get the help/treatments they need. In 2016, suicide accounted for 19% of deaths among youth aged 10-14, and 29% of deaths among youth aged 15-19. 

Not only that, but having bad mental health can lead to poor decision making. Many students turn to vaping or bullying as a result of their mental or emotional health. 1 in 4 high school students are currently vaping and 1 out of 3 students reported getting bullied. I believe that instead of always asking students about their goals in life or what they want to achieve in a course and trying to get their students there, schools should pay more attention and focus on their students' mental and emotional health. Many schools report vaping and bullying issues and bring awareness to that but do not see the real reasoning behind these actions. Many just blame it on the students at-home-lives when schools add a lot of stress to that. Therefore I am making this petition to bring awareness to the real reason as to why students struggle with their mental and emotional health.