Promoting adolescents’ mental health at school as an educational issue

Abstract

The pandemic has not only disrupted our lives but also revealed widespread distress among young people, highlighting the profound connection between mental health and the way adolescents live their daily lives. As a primary educational agency, school is crucial in promoting students’ mental health. The emerging results from a qualitative study, published elsewhere, based on the interpretative phenomenological approach involving teachers and school principals from secondary schools underscore the urgency of training teachers in mental health, specifically in recognizing and fully embracing their educational role at school. This acknowledgment aligns with the idea of an inclusive school, where teachers not only nurture talents but also care for students’ everyday life challenges and common distress, which can endorse uneasiness but can also be intended as growth opportunities.