Mental Health

Education news, analysis, and opinion about the psychological and emotional well-being of staff and students

Data

Close up of a psychologist with a clipboard and taking notes and a student's knees in the background - stock photo
Data: Does Your State Have Enough School Psychologists and Counselors?
Education Week examined ratios of school psychologists and counselors to students across the country. 
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Collage image of a teen in front of a computer with speech bubbles overlaying the screen.
Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week + Getty
Artificial Intelligence Q&A Students Who Turn to AI for Emotional Support Report Worse Mental Health
Some student uses of AI are associated with worse mental health and well-being outcomes.
Lauraine Langreo, November 10, 2026
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5 min read
Alarm clock after midnight with person sleeping in the background
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
School & District Management Principals Wake Up 15 Times a Night. 5 Ways to Reclaim Your Health
School leaders are at risk for burnout and health challenges. These strategies can help.
Olina Banerji, November 9, 2026
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3 min read
Google signage during a content capture event in New York, US, on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. Alphabet Inc.'s Google introduced its latest smartphone lineup, bringing subtle hardware and design improvements at a moment when Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. will both be promoting flashier foldable designs leading into the holiday quarter.
Google promotes its name during a technology event in New York City on Aug. 10, 2026. A new lawsuit claims a 13-year-old student used a Chromebook and Google's Gemini chatbot to generate problematic responses about her mental health.
Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Artificial Intelligence Lawsuit Blames a School-Issued Chromebook for Student’s Mental Health Crisis
The Chromebook was used to get feedback from an AI chatbot about mental health concerns.
Jennifer Vilcarino, November 6, 2026
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4 min read
Collage with a photo of a teenage student's eyes looking to the left. She's wearing glasses and holding her hands to her mouth. There's also slices of multiple choice test page bubbles breaking the photo up. The letters and question numbers on the test pages are facing multiple directions and are printed in red ink. There's a scribbled line above the top of the figure's head.
Illustration by Emily Wright for Education Week + Getty
Assessment Opinion The Problem With Test Anxiety Happens Long Before the Test
"Calm down and you'll do fine" is the wrong advice. Here's what to tell students instead.
Alex Jordan & Ben Lovett, October 29, 2026
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4 min read
Thoughtful mature teacher working on laptop in the classroom. Profile view of female professor brainstorming while working on a computer in the classroom of elementary school. Mental health struggle
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
Student Well-Being & Movement Dealing With Students' Mental Health Is Exacerbating Teachers' Own Challenges
The more mental health and behavioral supports teachers provide, the higher their own burnout risk.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 21, 2026
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3 min read
Man in suit, collaged with thorny branches in front and behind him.
Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week + Canva
School & District Management Q&A Principals Are Stressed Out. Here's What's Plaguing Them—and What Can Help
Principal mental health is suffering from ‘work spillage,' a new study finds.
Olina Banerji, October 8, 2026
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5 min read
Young man using a smartphone to ask an AI about exercise
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
Artificial Intelligence ChatGPT's 'Teen Mode' Is Unsafe for Students, Report Concludes
The chatbot failed to report unsafe interactions to parents in a timely manner, researchers found.
Alyson Klein, October 7, 2026
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5 min read
Mansfield Senior High School teacher Tony Davis talks to his health class about the topic of sleep as freshman Zariyah Gregg, 14, snoozes, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, in Mansfield, Ohio.
Mansfield Senior High School teacher Tony Davis talks to his health class about the topic of sleep as freshman Zariyah Gregg, 14, snoozes, on Dec. 6, 2024, in Mansfield, Ohio. CDC 2025 Youth Risk Behavior Survey report focuses on five areas — diet, physical activity, sleep, digital behavior, and mental health and suicide risk — while largely leaving out national findings on substance use, sexual behavior, violence and disparities among student groups that were prominent in previous reports.<br/>
Phil Long/AP
Student Well-Being & Movement CDC's Latest Youth Behavior Report Offers a Narrower Look at Teen Health
The new report leaves out national findings on substance use, sexual behavior, violence, and disparities.
Amanda Watford, Stateline, September 30, 2026
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6 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Opinion It's 3 p.m. Do You Know What Teens Are Doing?
A veteran school reformer is focused on how teens are spending their time after the school day ends.
Rick Hess, September 29, 2026
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5 min read
Student sitting criss cross pondering.
Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week + Getty
Student Well-Being & Movement Teen Mental Health Is Improving, CDC Finds. Then Why Are Experts Still Concerned?
Student mental health remains a big challenge for schools to address.
Lauraine Langreo, September 21, 2026
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5 min read
The U.S. flag hangs on One World Trade Center during the 10th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony attended by President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush, at Ground Zero in New York, Sunday, Sept., 11, 2011 in New York.
The U.S. flag hangs on One World Trade Center during the a ceremony to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Sept. 11, 2011, in New York. Now 25 years on, the event has shaped school safety, debates over patriotism, and even federal education policy in ways that continue to reverberate.
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
School & District Management How 9/11 Still Shapes Schools
Schools feel the ripple effects of 9/11 in how they handle safety, student trauma, and promoting patriotism.
Evie Blad, September 4, 2026
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11 min read
A crossing guard stops traffic as a parents accompany their children back to school on the first day of New York City Public Schools 2025-2026 scholastic year, in the New York City borough of Queens, NY, September 4, 2025.
A crossing guard stops traffic as a parents accompany their children back to school on the first day of the 2025-26 school year in New York City, in the borough of Queens, N.Y., on Sept. 4, 2025. The New York City district is appointing school avoidance liaisons to tackle the problem of students with social or emotional disabilities refusing to go to school.
Anthony Behar/Sipa via AP
Student Absenteeism How to Get Past the Blame Game when Kids Refuse to Come to School
Tackling school avoidance won’t be a one-person job, experts say.
Olina Banerji, September 3, 2026
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5 min read
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, shakes hands with the organizers of the event at the Hubert Humphrey Building in Washington on Sept. 1, 2026.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services, shakes hands with the organizers of an event focused on the harms of student screen time at the Hubert Humphrey Building in Washington on Sept. 1, 2026. The symposium is part of HHS’s Live Real Life campaign, a national effort aimed at helping families, schools, and communities reduce harmful screen use and create more opportunities for children to engage in real-world experiences.
Sarah L. Voisin For Education Week
Ed-Tech Policy RFK Jr. Calls for Children to Have 'Less Screen Time and More Real Life'
Speakers at an event hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services discuss the harms of student screen time, and possible solutions.
Jennifer Vilcarino, September 1, 2026
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4 min read
Attorney's representing multiple states pose for a photograph outside court after after tech giant Meta reached a settlement to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026.
Attorneys representing multiple states pose for a photograph outside a federal court in Oakland, Calif., after after tech giant Meta reached a settlement to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction on Aug. 26, 2026. The settlement terms and payments could have major effects on students and schools, according to legal and technology experts.
Noah Berger/AP
Student Well-Being & Movement Billions Will Flow to States Through Meta Settlement. Will Schools Benefit?
Schools could share in the payout. Meta's design feature changes could also help, experts say.
Arianna Prothero, August 28, 2026
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7 min read