Self Care for Students

This past fall, a new club was introduced at FCHS with the hopes of helping students struggling with stress as well as any other challenges they may be dealing with at home or at school. “While students may generally know what self-care is, they may be unaware of all the different self-care strategies and that can be practiced anywhere at any time,” said School Counseling Intern Shelby Allen.

Sophomore Travis Morris helped create the club. Morris was influenced by a YouTuber named Prince Ea, who would often talk about how school doesn’t really teach you how to deal with depression and anxiety. “In my mind, school is teaching me how to deal with things on my own. So that’s why we made the Self-Care Club,” said Morris. The main goal of the club is to “just make everyone happier so they don’t have to deal with a lot of the stuff they’re dealing with right now,” Morris said.

The club is always looking for more people to join, and they hope to eventually be student-led with help from co-sponsors. While the club does not have a set meeting time yet, during the fall the club met every other Wednesday during Fluco Focus. During the meetings, they discuss what self-care is and how it looks different for every person, and learn self-care techniques and how to practice them.

According to a study published by NYU, a large percentage of today’s youth experience high levels of stress. These high stress levels can prevent students’ abilities to succeed academically, and can compromise their mental health functioning. Noelle Leonard, PhD, senior research scientist at the New York University College of Nursing, warns that these high levels of stress may lead to “academic disengagement and mental health problems among emerging adults.” The study, which was administered to a total of 128 juniors, showed that half of the students report feeling stressed, while around 31 percent reported feeling “somewhat” stressed. And 26 percent of the students who participated in the survey reported feeling symptoms of depression at a clinically significant level.

On March 20, the FCHS Self-Care Club will hold a special event from 4:15-6:15. During the event they will have sand trays, coloring materials, and movies for students to relax and unwind. They will even have therapy dogs from Green Dogs Unleashed present for the first hour. This, as well as all future events, will be free to all students. More information on the event will be announced on In The Know or can be obtained by seeing Ms. Allen in the Career Counseling Room on the third floor.

“If you’re dealing with anything that’s frustrating you, you can talk to me or Ms. Allen and we will do anything we can to help you,” said Morris.