Mental Health

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

Data

Data: Does Your State Have Enough School Psychologists and Counselors?
Education Week examined ratios of school psychologists and counselors to students across the country. 
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Opinion 3 Ways Schools Can Support Students' Mental Health
Childhood trauma and adversity are now acknowledged. Educators need strategies to respond to them.
Larry Ferlazzo, August 19, 2025
3 min read
The ChatGPT app icon is seen on a smartphone screen on Aug. 4, 2025, in Chicago.
The ChatGPT app icon is seen on a smartphone screen on Aug. 4, 2025, in Chicago. A new study found that ChatGPT can encourage vulnerable teenagers to engage in potentially harmful acts or behavior.
Kiichiro Sato/AP
Artificial Intelligence Researchers Posed as a Teen in Crisis. AI Gave Them Harmful Advice Half the Time
ChatGPT prompted teens to harmful acts, a study reveals.
Jennifer Vilcarino, August 18, 2025
6 min read
Woman on the boat rowing through a calm natural landscape. Concept art of way, journey, success, hope, life, dream and freedom.
Jorm Sangsorn/iStock
Teaching Profession Opinion Healthy Work-Life Boundaries: 4 Tips for Teachers
Here’s how to start planning now for taking care of yourself this school year, from a former teacher.
Robyn Neilsen, August 15, 2025
3 min read
Image of a sad girl in the shadows
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Student Well-Being & Movement Professional Learning Guide Your Guide to Student Mental Health & Wellness
This professional learning guide offers actionable strategies for supporting student mental health.
August 13, 2025
Tight cropped illustration of a nurse or doctor in blue scrubs and wearing a stethoscope around their neck. In the upper right corner of the image there is a Caucasian hand being held by a Black nurse's hand. The nurse is wearing a light blue medical glove.
iStock/Getty
Student Well-Being & Movement The Health Trends Schools Should Be Watching This Year
Poor health leads students to miss school. But there are strategies schools can adopt to keep kids healthy.
Arianna Prothero, August 12, 2025
2 min read
Students wait at a bus stop outside DeWitt Clinton High School on Monday, July 14, 2025.
Students wait at a bus stop outside DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City on July 14, 2025. Teenagers are experiencing more loneliness than any other age group in the world, a new report from the World Health Organization found.
Mostafa Bassim for Education Week
Student Well-Being & Movement Q&A Teens Are the Loneliest People in the World, a New Report Finds. Why?
Rates of loneliness are higher among teens, the World Health Organization found. Is social media to blame?
Jennifer Vilcarino, August 5, 2025
5 min read
Illustration of a close up head of a male educator from the eyes up with open head / mind. Creating a platform for a scene in which we find mental health counselor and empty seat across from him. Radiating lines acting as sun rays emanating from sun / mind. These elements are drawn in chalk on board. Radiating sun reflects the idea of the positivity found in the process of working with a mental health counselor.
Taylor Callery for Education Week
English Learners Why ESL Teachers Are Calling for More Mental Health Support
Survey data analysis found more mental health counselors at school can boost morale for English-as-a-second language teachers.
Ileana Najarro & Alex Harwin, July 25, 2025
3 min read
Abigail Smithson, right, helps hold a large cross during a vigil for flood victims at Tivy Antler Stadium on July 9, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas.
Abigail Smithson, right, helps hold a large cross during a vigil for flood victims at Tivy Antler Stadium on July 9, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. Tivy High School Principal Rick Sralla led efforts to rescue stranded campers during the floods and is now guiding students and staff through the aftermath of the tragedy.
Ashley Landis/AP
School & District Management This Principal Rescued Kids During the Texas Floods. Now, His Work Continues
Principal Rick Sralla is now guiding students and staff through the aftermath of the tragedy.
Olina Banerji, July 24, 2025
7 min read
Amelia, 16, sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois on Friday, March 24, 2023. “We are so strong and we go through so, so much," says the teenage girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon. Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she “deserved to be raped."
The U.S. Department of Education has revealed new priorities for two mental health grants after it abruptly canceled awards the Biden administration made.
Erin Hooley/AP
Federal No 'Gender Ideology': Ed. Dept.'s New Focus for Mental Health Grants It Yanked
The Trump administration abruptly canceled $1 billion in mental health grants in April that it said reflected Biden-era priorities.
Brooke Schultz, July 16, 2025
5 min read
Photo of teen girl using cellphone.
Georgijevic / E+
Student Well-Being & Movement The Online Behaviors Most Harmful to Kids’ Mental Health, According to a New Survey
A new survey asked 11- to 13-year-olds how they felt when they engaged in certain behaviors online.
5 min read
Audience members listen as President Joe Biden speaks during an event to celebrate the passage of the "Bipartisan Safer Communities Act," a law meant to reduce gun violence, on the South Lawn of the White House, July 11, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Audience members listen as then-President Joe Biden speaks during an event to celebrate the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act on the South Lawn of the White House on July 11, 2022. The legislation provided funding for two school mental health grants that the Trump administration terminated in late April. Sixteen states are now suing to restore the funding.
Evan Vucci/AP
Law & Courts 16 States Sue Trump Admin. to Restore Mental Health Grants for Schools
Democratic state officials are challenging the Education Department ending mental health funding, which had passed with bipartisan support.
Brooke Schultz, July 1, 2025
3 min read
Mindset growth woman self care concept. Mental health positive success person. Flower woman head happy think.
Madina Asileva/iStock
Teaching Profession Opinion ‘Gen Z Isn’t Lazy’: Let’s Rethink What We Expect of New Teachers
When a new teacher requested a mental health day, I flinched—then I listened.
Meagan Booth, May 22, 2025
4 min read
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Former Secretary of Education John King speaks with Education Week during an interview on May 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Former Secretary of Education John King reflects on his tenure and on the changing teaching profession in an exclusive interview with Education Week on May 5, 2025, in Washington.
Sam Mallon for Education Week
Teaching Q&A Obama Ed. Sec. John King: Teachers Can't Be Bombarded With Reforms
He describes life through the lens of the teachers who shaped him, and reflects on his time leading the nation's education agency.
Sarah D. Sparks, May 6, 2025
8 min read