Pros and Cons of Teaching Mental Health in Schools in 2026

Teaching mental health to people (especially kids) is overall a positive thing. Mental health is health, and needs to be treated as such. As a teacher who struggled with burnout, I know how important mental health education is, for people of all ages.

Still though, I can admit that there are pros and cons to making mental health a big focus in the school system. I generally consider myself to be a huge mental health advocate (diagnosed anxiety, plus mental health illnesses in my family), but I know that there are a few things to consider when it comes to how mental health is presented in the classroom,

I can see many different pros and cons to mental health education and how to go about it in schools. So, here are what I believe are the pros and cons to teaching mental health in today’s schools.

Pros of Teaching Mental Health in Schools

Here are reasons why mental health education is teaching kids about human behaviou and empathy

✅  Flight or fight is a normal human psychological response to any stressful situation, and it has kept us alive for many years. Students learn how to identify stress responses in themselves and in other people.

✅  Students learn to empathize with other people. When they understand emotions and feelings, they get better at labelling them and understanding how someone else might be feeling

✅ It’s a part of preventing severe problems down the road. Many mental health disorders become worse if untreated. When students learn about the early warning signs of mental health, they will be more able to help themselves (or someone else) before the problem gets worse.

✅ Students become aware of severe mental health illnesses that affect many people, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. They are 100% likely to come across people affected by these illnesses at some point in their lifetime, so it is helpful for them to have been taught about them in school.

✅ Teaching mental health in schools normalizes it. Mental health has been stigmatized for a long time, and in some cases – it still is. Teaching mental health in schools teaches students:

• The importance of looking after your own mental health
• How to manage stress in their daily life
• Compassion for those who face several mental illnesses like schizophrenia

These are useful skills to bring forward in life, and ones that I would never want students to go without.

Despite how great all of this is, and sounds – I will share with you the downside as well.

The Major Con About Teaching Mental Health in Schools

Mental health is complicated topic with many layers and variables. Overall, I deeply believe that mental health should absolutely be taught in schools. But here are some reasons how the mental health education is backfiring – and below, some solutions of things to do about it.

Some students are using ‘mental health’ as permission for avoidance. Overall, it’s a great thing that the awareness of mental health has grown – but, this also means that it has become more common for mental health to be used as an excuse or avoidance of doing something that they just don’t want to do.

The student may even believe that their mental health is suffering, but really its the feeling of being in a zone of growth, which they aren’t used to. It’s very hard for the student or the teacher to determine whether the student really is struggling with a mental health issue or whether they just don’t want to do it.

Caring for your nervous system and mental health is important, but we aren’t meant to avoid anything that is remotely uncomfortable or that we don’t want to do.

How do I know as a teacher, whether I’m pushing a student to be better, or potentially emotionally traumatizing them? I’ve had some parents contact me to request modifications (such as to avoid presenting to the class, or get extended deadlines for late work, due to anxiety.)

I struggle with generalized anxiety, so I can deeply empathize with it. I also believe that it doesn’t mean you should never do something that is a little bit difficult.

When students learn about stress and anxiety, they may sometimes begin to overidentify with it, and use it as a reason to not persevere through challenges, or hold themselves accountable for their choices.

As awareness of anxiety and depression grows, students may begin to recognize every sign of discomfort in them as being a symptom – and then feel discouraged from ever doing things that are uncomfortable.

Mental health education, depending on how it’s done and how the students interprest it, sometimes encourages kids to stay in their comfort zone and not try to push beyond it – which is always where real personal growth always happens!

Sometimes in life, pushing through isn’t easy and you should know when it’s time to quit. But this might be confusing for students in school, who in some cases, using it as a form of avoidance.

Previous generations, and other countries currently around the world, live in societies where backing out of something due to ‘mental health’ wasn’t an option, and you had no choice but to push yourself. Was this helpful? Sometimes yes, and many times no.

Caring for our mental heath is very important, but sometimes mental health education doesn’t make a lot of room for the need for resilience and pushing through.

My Opinion: Should Mental Health Still Be Taught in Schools?

I do absolutely believe that mental health should still be taught in schools, despite some of the harmful effects that it may be having for some students.

The mental health aspects for schools should be:

• Stress: What stress is, and how to recognize stress in other people and cope with it
• Mental health illnesses: Students should be aware of what kinds of mental illnesses exist, and what they look like. They should be taught compassion for people struggling with mental illnesses so that they can be apart of breaking stigmas
• How to care for their own mental health. Mental health is health, and it is impacted to many different things – what we eat, how much exercise we get, who we spend our time with, how much sleep we get. Students should learn what kinds of habits play into how they feel (a holistic approach.)

What exactly you teach with regards to mental health may depend on what curriculum you’re using. If you’re a school teacher

Tips for Teaching Mental Health in Schools (in a Balanced Way)

Yoy absolutely should give your students quality education on mental health. You also don’t want to send messages to them that may be confusing or found to be contradicting yourself. (“You said I should take a break if I feel stressed, but now you’re not letting me take a break!”) So, here are my tips:

1. Model good mental health habits

Be sure that you are practicing work-life balance, and aren’t overworking yourself! Pushing beyond comfort zone can be good, but not if it is causing a lot of ongoing stress.

Being a good teacher of mental health is very much like being a leader. Good leaders know that mental health is important, and they model how to protect it by implementing good practices themselves. Your school principal is also modeling a healthy work life balance and boundaries with work.

2. Validate their feelings, but continue to set clear expectations

Students do need to feel that their feelings and opinions are valid. At the same time, they need to know that you have expectations of them and you believe that they can do it.

When students feel like their teacher doesn’t have high expectations from them, it actually hinders their learning. The same goes true with workers and their bosses. My associate teacher once said to me, “they’ll behave if you expect them to,” and I think there is a lot of truth to that.

Pro Tip: When we cater to avoidance tactics (such as, allowing students to present in private rather than in front of the whole class, or tolerating really bad behaviour) then we send the message that we don’t think they’re capable either. Validate their feelings of nervousness, but show them that you believe in them to be able to to do

3. Foster a growth mindset in the classroom

A growth mindset goes hand in hand with not being self-critical or calling it quits too early on. It doesn’t matter what level you’re presenting at now – it is not your ‘permanent’ state; you can always go beyond that as you wish.

Realizing this helps students (and even you as a teacher) not beat yourself up when you’re not ‘perfect’ and instead, accept failure and struggles as apart of the learning and development process.

See my ideas on fostering a growth mindset in the classroom.

4. Teach mindfulness

Now more than ever, students need mindfulness. Mindfulness helps quiet the noise in our head, redudes stress and promotes emotional regulation.

The world would be a better, and safer place for us all if everyone took the time for mindfulness or meditation.

5. Have boundaries and limitations

Some people think that being too strict or having too many rules will hinder their relationships with students and the student’s mental health.

While this is true, students need structure to feel safe. They feel safer and more valued when there are limitations. Not having rules or restrictions sends the message that you don’t really care.

Good classroom management strategies can help you set good and realistic goals for your classroom and help your students meet those expectations.

6. Differentiate between true struggles and avoidance

Real struggles to complete a task are the result of a capacity issue. The student may really want to, but they have a block (that they have no or limited control over) that they may need some help with.

Example: A student with severe anxiety wants to participate in class; they raise their hand but they freezes when the teacher calls on them.

However, if that same student is trying to avoid participation. Then, they may not put their hand up, Instead they might:

• Makes excuses (“I don’t feel like it today” or “I’ll go next time”).
• Distracting others (joking around, takes other people’s attention off of the subject at hand)
• Participates in other social activities (talking to friends, engaging in group work, or doing well in other areas) but avoids academic areas of presenting or socializing
• Doesn’t show any visible signs of distress—they seem more uninterested than anxious (I’ve had many students like this.)

Getting Help with Avoidance in Students

If your students are demonstrating avoidance tactics such as the ones above, but them or their parents are claiming that it’s mental health based, then this is a tough situation to be in as a teacher.

You don’t want to deny or invalidate the student’s feelings, but you also deep down feel that they are using mental health as a form of avoidance.

If their parents are backing them, (and especially if there is a diagnosed mental health condition) then you could get yourself in a lot of trouble for not accomodating.

Each situation will be unique and requires your analysis of what is going on, and the best way to support the student.

Here are some things to say to parents or students if you suspect avoidance:

• “Avoiding _______ompletely might feel better in the moment, but over time, it could make it even harder.“
• “I know that this _______ might seem scary right now. But it’s also a real-world skill that could help down the road. Avoiding this task now may make it harder to practice it in the future.”
• “I have confidance in your ability to ______.”

Final Thoughts on Pros and Cons of Teaching Mental Health in Schools

Mental health education in schools is a positive step forward, and there are far more pros to cons to teaching mental health in schools.

The only real downside to teaching mental health in schools is the rising occurrence of students using mental health as a reason to avoid work or hold themselves accountable. As educators and parents, we can do something about this.

Remember (and communicate to your student or child) that:

• their feelings are always valid
• there are still expectations (that you deeply believe, and expect that they can meet)
• avoiding expectations may feel more comfortable in the moment, but it will cause more serious problems down the road

I hope that you found this article helpful, and I would love to hear your thoughts.