Students request want excused absences for mental health

Students at Northeastern University in Massachusetts are requesting excused class absences for students who have mental health difficulties.

According to a proposal written by Active Minds, a mental wellness club at Northeastern University, “The inability for students to take a break when necessary could have detrimental consequences for their health... The implementation of permanent mental health days or ‘Wellness Days’ is the first step to addressing this issue.”

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The proposal requests that students receive three excused absences per semester, and suggests that an online platform be utilized to request a “Wellness Day.” 

According to the proposal, this online platform would allow students to “indirectly communicate with professors” which “eliminates the stress and anxiety that students face when directly notifying professors... which is particularly an issue for students of color.”

In response, Northeastern University agreed to implement Wellness Days according to the outline presented by Active Minds. 

Jonathan Haidt, a prominent social psychologist at New York University, recently conducted an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Gen-Z students.

[RELATED: NYU prof argues Gen Z is too ‘fragile,’ causing ‘national crisis’]

“We have a whole generation that’s doing terribly,” said Haidt. He also claimed that there has “never been a generation this depressed, anxious and fragile.” 

Campus Reform spoke with Marissa McCall, a student at Missouri University of Science and Technology, about student fragility. Marissa is diagnosed with Bilateral Striatal Necrosis and Congenital Heart Failure.

According to Marissa, academics can be challenging due to her health concerns. Despite this, she hasn’t let her health get in the way of her education. “Some of the challenges I have faced are not being able to finish classes,” McCall told Campus Reform. “I had to appeal twice because my GPA got low.”

Regardless, Marissa has made it to her Junior year of college.

Campus Reform reached out to Active Minds, Northeastern University, and Jonathan Haidt. This article will be updated accordingly. 

Follow Emily Fowler on Twitter.