For reportedly the first time in CNMI Public School System history, all CNMI public schools have student counselors in every school and satisfy the American School Counselor Association\u2019s nationwide standard of maintaining a student-to-counselor ratio of 250:1.<\/p>\n
The ASCA is a nationwide collective that supports school counselors\u2019 efforts to enrich students\u2019 lives academically, socially, mentally, and emotionally to prepare them to lead meaningful lives as responsible members of society. It recommends that schools maintain a student-to-counselor ratio of 250 students to one counselor and that counselors spend 80% of their time directly working with or indirectly working for students.<\/p>\n
Dr. Yvonne Pangelinan, senior director of Student and Support Services and director of the PSS Mental Health Team, cited this achievement last Saturday, where she also talked about the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the mental wellness of students and the importance of giving the CNMI\u2019s youth opportunities to talk about their mental health.<\/p>\n
Pangelinan said she and the Mental Health Team have seen a rise in anxiety and depression in the CNMI\u2019s youth as a result of the almost two years in isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pangelinan said that anxiety and depression are natural human responses to these mentally taxing times, and that it is important now more than ever that students prioritize their mental health. <\/p>\n
\u201c[Feelings of anxiety and depression are] natural because we are social beings. Understanding what helps us sustain mental wellness is really important, during this time in particular, because we cannot socialize and we cannot interact with one another the way that we\u2019ve always done. There are new norms of behaving, new norms of getting together,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Pangelinan said it is important that students are given the opportunity to talk about their mental health. She also made clear that mental wellness is not just about always being stable and happy, but is actually about \u201cunderstanding those ups and downs\u201d and knowing when and how to reach out for help when needed. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe, the Mental Health Team, feel that having an opportunity to sit with kids and talk about the issues that are most important to them, during this time especially. …It\u2019s important we share with them tips that they can use to stay mentally well, reach out and to talk about their problems, and send the message that you don\u2019t always have to be okay,\u201d said Pangelinan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMental wellness doesn\u2019t mean that you\u2019re always stable. \u2026Mental wellness is understanding those ups and downs, and learning to [ask yourself] when you\u2019re down, \u2018What are the things that I can do to assist myself?\u201d and \u2018Who are the people that I can reach out to?\u2019\u201d she added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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