BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Sometimes, the world just gets to be too much, 17-year-old Kaylie confessed.
Heavy to the point of overwhelming. Unrelenting pressures at home and school, and in personal relationships and among peers. Day and night. A thunderstorm of stresses with few umbrellas.
- Bethlehem Freedom High School held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the official opening of its Wellness Center for students needing mental health intervention
- More than one in five Freedom students have been identified as in need of counseling for their mental health
- The Wellness Center consists of rooms where students can be alone or discuss issues in groups
Sometimes, the world just gets to be too much, 17-year-old Jayshaun confessed.
A young person’s world crammed with anxiety and tension at home and at school and from teachers, he finds a little too power-hungry. A suffocating world with few open windows.
Kaylie and Jayshaun, both Freedom High School juniors who chose not to have their last names identified, are not alone.
They are among the more than 400 Freedom students — more than one in five — who have been identified as needing intervention regarding their mental health.
Freedom High School continues to address its students' mental health concerns with the opening of its Wellness Center. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday.
Attendees included school district and high school administration, Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds, and state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th District, who secured a $250,000 state grant for the center, which was repurposed from the school’s planetarium.
'You are not alone in your journey'
The Wellness Center is the second one in Bethlehem Area schools. Liberty High School opened its center in 2019.
While a soft opening of the Wellness Center took place a few weeks ago, Friday’s ceremony officially opened the door to a safe-space area to which students dealing with any type of emotional issue can go to decompress alone and/or speak to one of four on-site therapists.
“This state-of-the-art Wellness Center says the mental health of our students is paramount,” Freedom Principal Laurie Sage said.
“This says we value each student here and know that academic success doesn’t occur if mental health and wellness don’t come first. This says to our students, ‘You are not alone in your journey.’"
The entrance to the Wellness Center consists of a waiting area. Around the corner is a long hallway with four offices where coordinators work, where Pinebrook therapists counsel students, and where the school’s Project Success Mentor works.
There’s a conference room where groups of students can gather to discuss issues, as well as a Peace Room for students to take a break from daily stresses, draw, sit, use fidget toys, listen to music, and apply strategies they’ve learned before returning to class.
“If students need to reach someone, they can use a phone number that shows up on my phone as a text, but it’s actually an email,” said Naomy Diaz-Sierra, Communities in Schools site coordinator at Freedom.
“Also, if a student is already working with a Pinebrook therapist, they have a similar way to contact them. We are always here for the students.”
'A major issue in school'
Bethlehem Area Schools Superintendent Joseph Roy acknowledged that mental health is a major issue in school as well as in the public.
“Our kids come to us saying they need emotional support,” Roy said. “We are here to give it to them.”
Freedom Assistant Principal Robin Alozie added: “Social and emotional learning is just as important as academic learning.”
While Kaylie and Jayshaun are not alone as students needing emotional support, Freedom’s mental health concerns are reflective of a nationwide issue bordering on an epidemic.
A report released this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a significant decline in the mental health of U.S. teenagers.
The report showed 42% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021, while 22% seriously considered suicide.
“It’s very important to me knowing there are people here that want to help me. I’ve made connections with people who care. They’re there for you.”Kaylie, 17, a Bethlehem Freedom junior
Among the reasons for the increase in those statistics are isolation from the coronavirus pandemic, social media and conflicts in society — all of which have affected young people’s mental health.
Navigating emotions
Experts say kids are born with a full range of emotions, but not the skills to navigate through them. They need to learn.
“This issue with students is happening everywhere,” said Lauren Kohler, of Pinebrook Family Answers, of Lehigh Valley, a mental health services provider.
“A Wellness Center in school is important for a lot of reasons, one being that a lot of kids can’t get help and care outside of school."
“Here, kids who just need a break can come to the Peace Room, sit there alone, or a therapist can intervene. There’s cognitive behavioral therapy, reality therapy, and DBT [Dialectical Behavior Therapy, a talk therapy for those experiencing emotions very intensely.]
"Kids come here when they’re dealing with anxiety, peer relationship issues, depression, issues at home, many reasons."
“When kids need a break, they come here to take a break.”
Jayshaun does. Kaylie does, too.
“When I have stuff I’m dealing with, personal stuff, relationship stuff — things that bring me down — I come down here,” Kaylie said.
“I used to just go home and draw to be distracted from things bothering me. But that didn’t help me as actively and efficiently as coming here."
“It’s very important to me knowing there are people here that want to help me. I’ve made connections with people who care. They’re there for you.”
Her future plans? She hopes to become a therapist.
