Freedom to Minds

Crazy

DeadlyDifficultAsylumHardProblemsHopeless

BadConfusedHospitalHelpWeirdVoicesSadPsycho

Headache

Unfortunate

PsychoticRetardedScaredDumbDiseasesDisabilityAnxious

Sick

MentalFear
OddDepressed
MindNut-JobStruggleStressfulWorryChallengedAnxietyDisabled
HealthPeopleUncontrollable

Cuckoo Different

Brain

Blythe Fleming
G Block
Ms. Kirkpatrick
February 26, 2016

Table of Contents
Abstract:
Scope of the Problem: 3-4

Mission Statement: 5
Goals and Objectives: 5-6
Evaluating Resources: 6-8
Implementing the Plan: 8-10
Effectiveness of Solution: 10
Gaining Support: 10-12
Final Call to Action: 12
Works Cited: 13
Annotated Bibliography; 14-15
Appendix A: 16
Appendix B: 16-22

Abstract
Overall Coventry High School and Captain Nathan Hale Middle School must increase the
knowledge of mental illness within the student body in order to raise awareness and acceptance.
This will be achieved by expanding classes that are already in place and required by

administration and offering groups for students who are suffering and those who are not suffering
as well. The support was a total of 100% with teachers who were willing to educate their own
students on mental illness.

Scope of the Problem

Stigmas are derived from ignorance. The youth of Coventrys school system are lacking
the knowledge necessary to fully accept and understand mental illnesses; leading to the exile of
those who are suffering in secrecy. The education that is currently being received must be
modified in order to allow for full acceptance of those who suffer from mental illness. President
Barack Obama begged teachers to help the children who are suffering. He testifies, More than
75 percent of mental illnesses, including depression, panic disorder, schizophrenia and anorexia
nervosa, emerge when children are schoolaged or young adults (Adams). Teachers and other
2

students have the ability to educate themselves and become aware of the stigmas and issues that
occur with mental illness. It is the duty of the school to help aid students who are in need. School
is a place where children spend most of their time throughout the week. Since mental illness
signs appear at school-age, other students and teachers should have extensive knowledge on the
illnesses so that they may come to the aid of a student who is suffering and confused. Not only
will educating the children break through the stigma, but it will also encourage those who feel as
though they are suffocated by their illness to come forward without shame. At Coventry High
School students feel shame towards their illnesses as their peers jeer about those who suffer;
judgmentally stating they are simply attention seekers and that there is no real problem. People
who arent like everyone else are psycho or crazy. When asked in a survey of about 200
students in the Coventry Public Schools about the first words that come to their minds when they
hear the term mental illness, many students responded with demeaning terms that society uses to
taint the truth about mental illness. Students must be educated in order to reveal to what extent
those words are actually harming the silent sufferers around them.
Those who are mentally ill remain undetected as they shy away and are swallowed by
shame. The National Alliance on Mental Illness supports, Approximately one in five youth aged
13-18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life (Mental).
Providing students with knowledge would allow the one child out of five to understand why
she/he is the way they are. Many mental illnesses are connected to depression as depression is
linked to a sense of being alone; students who suffer in secret are in grave danger of their
condition worsening. With the proper knowledge and education, students graduating from
Coventry High School will be prepared to undergo the stigmas of life and protect those who are
mentally ill from an utterly ignorant society.

Captain Nathan Hale and Coventry High School must incorporate teachings of mental
illness into the various Health and English classes. The English classes will be utilized to banish
the stigmas by exposing the treachery behind them; whereas the Health classes will expand the
knowledge of the basics for each mental illness. As the knowledge for the mentally ill increases
the respect and understanding will also increase. As stated in Coventry High Schools Mission
Statement, a civic and social expectation is that our students, Respect people as individuals
within our school and global communities (Mission). There are students who are hiding in the
shadows in our school district because they feel as though they cannot reveal their illness due to
the stigmas behind the mentally ill. In order to fulfill the expectations of the Mission Statement,
Coventry Public Schools (Grades 6-12) must abolish the negative connotation of the mentally ill
and replace the stigmas with acceptance.

Mission and Statement of Need

Coventry High School and Captain Nathan Hale Middle School currently do not provide
the adequate education to provide students with the necessary knowledge to fully understand and
accept mental illnesses. This inadequacy in our school system greatly increases the stigma of
mental illnesses, forcing those who suffer to feel inhuman and cower under the fear of
judgement. Those with mental illnesses are deemed as attention seekers. Also mental illnesses
have become a cliche in our students speech; ranging from utilizing psychotic as an adjective, to
describing girls who are too skinny as anorexic. In order to expunge the halls of our schools
systems of these demeaning terms, we must properly educate all students grades 6-12.

Goals and Objectives

4

I.
A.
1.
2.
3.

Education
Require Health and English from grades 6-12 to extensively cover the topic of mental illness.
Utilize nonfiction and fiction novels/articles.
Present movies that embrace mental illness rather than exacerbate the stigma.
Create assessments to measure the extent the students are understanding and collecting the
information.
II.

Support

A. Implement and maintain support groups.

1. Open up the support groups for all students, not just those who are suffering from mental illness
and plan for meetings once every two weeks.
2. Ban the use of derogatory terms in the support groups.
3. Place a Safe Space mentality over all students who attend. (No-Judgement Zone)

Evaluating Resources:
Flaws
English Classes
Currently most the English classes offered at Coventry High School and
Captain Nathan Hale Middle School do not touch upon mental illness. In an
interview with 8th grade English teacher, Ms. Boenig, it is revealed, Our current
curriculum does not touch upon mental illness whatsoever (Boenig). Ms. Boenig
felt very passionate on expanding her own classes because she too felt as though
the students needed to be educated. However, it is not just the middle school that
is not teaching mental illness. High school English teacher, Mrs. Entwisle,
exposes, My curriculum probably touches on mental illness not in the best
possible way. Only because its in dealing with literature that paints people with
mental illness in a light thats not really realistic (Entwisle). Mrs. Entwisle
acknowledged the flaw in her literature by using Shakespeare as an example.
Sophomores are required to read Shakespeares King Lear. However, this

particular novel forces the reader to believe that all who suffer from mental are
extremely over the top due to the entertainment aspect of the writing. English
classes must use relevant materials that do not add a negative connotation to
mental illness.

Health Classes

When interviewed, both high school and middle school health teachers claimed
that they believed they were doing an adequate job of educating students on
mental: both agreed that there could always be improvements. However, a survey
was conducted with about 200 students, that revealed the utter ignorance of the
students in Coventry Public Schools. Even some students claimed that they felt
very knowledgable on the topic of mental illness but when asked to name the
types of mental illness there are, students exposed that there is not enough
education. The responses collected ranged from down syndrome and cystic
fibrosis to every STD/STI. The Health classes must take responsibility and
educate every student on mental illness, extensively.
Current Resources
Coventry obtains every resource needed to expand further to make room for
education on mental illness. Coventry High School requires Health when students are
underclassmen. Also, English is a required course for all four years of High School. At
the Middle School, Health is required every year as well as English. In order to
effectively increase the education on mental illness, those classes must be utilized and
expanded to make room for the looming topic that is considered taboo in todays society;

expanding classes that are already required increases the ease of education as well as
decreases the cost.
Finances
The financial aspect of implementing mental illness into classes is
considerably low. Since the classes are already in place there will no expenses used to
create an entirely new course. The only expense that should be considered is purchasing
new textbooks for Health classes and increasing the range of fiction/non fiction books
that are given out to students as either a reading requirement or as a free read.

Implementing the Plan

Implementing more units on mental illness into middle and high school classes will begin
in the fall of 2016 for the 2016-2017 school year. Teachers will be expected to include new and
approved lessons into their curriculum in order to fulfill the necessary gap in knowledge into
classes that are already required and currently operating. To further implement more knowledge
into the minds of the students, mandatory, school wide seminars will be conducted once a year,
along with optional support groups. However, the support groups will meet once a week to aid
those who feel as though they must come forward with their sufferings.
I.

Health Classes
Health classes will expand their budget in order to purchase a newer, updated
textbooks. The textbook that is currently in place is lacking the new knowledge that is
detrimental to the understanding of mental illnesses. Teachers will have to undergo more
extensive training to prepare for the rigorous topics of mental illness, and to be able to
answer any question that might appear while students are being taught. To assess the

knowledge retained, teachers will give quizzes and tests to collect data on whether or not
this new concept is benefitting the students education.
II. English Classes
Similar to heath classes, English classes will also need to expand their budget in order to
give an adequate education on mental illness. Also like the health classes, English teachers will
be required to go through extensive training and workshops. However, rather than the heath
textbook, English will utilize fiction and nonfiction novels to expose the stigmas of mental
illness. To assess progress teaching can create quizzes and tests as well as conduct research
papers and projects that focus on mental illness.
III. Support Groups
Support groups will be held once a week for students who feel as though they are
struggling. However, these support groups will be open to all students, not strictly those who
suffer from mental illnesses. Allowing other students to listen and support other students will
further diminish the use of derogatory terms. This tactic will be helpful because it will give
students the chance to understand what a student their own age undergoes every day while
suffering in silence. These support groups will be managed by students and teachers. A teacher
will have to volunteer their time to chaperone the meetings. However, the meetings will be run
by students for students in hopes that it will appeal to more students.
IV. Mandatory Seminars
Coventry High School offers a Junior Seminar in which all juniors are required to
attend. This program was created to aid students in their journey to college. The mandatory
yearly seminars will follow closely on the same premise. Students will sacrifice one study hall a
year to listen to guest speakers and watch presentations to further expand their knowledge on

mental illness. Fundraisers will be conducted in order to defer the cost of guest speakers. Also,
students in the Coventry School system will be asked to present and even give testimonies if they
are comfortable enough. Creating mandatory seminars will ensure that students are extensively
learning about mental illness. Allowing students to speak on the behalf of mental illness and
expressing their own experiences will prove to students in our public schools that mental illness
is all around us and they must be sensitive to what they say and how they act.

Effectiveness of Solution:
This specific proposed solution will allow students to learn about mental illness in an
environment that they are fully comfortable in. Also, simply expanding courses that are already
in place will deter the cost of creating a new course and hiring new staff. As long as teachers are
fully comfortable there will should be zero issues with implementing courses at the middle
school level.

Gaining Support:
Personal Interviews:
A huge aspect required to fulfill the goals is the support from the teachers. In
interviewing the various levels of Health and English teachers it was exposed that our schools do
not provide enough education on mental illness. Brigette Boenig, an 8th grade ELA teacher,
commentated, I dont think in 8th grade that they are aware, at being such a young age, of what
the symptoms would be. Its mostly the teachers and guidance counselors who notice signs and
report it to the students parents. At this age they just dont know (Boenig). When asked about
her [Ms. Boenig] comfort level with educating students on mental illness, Ms. Boenig responded
without waver that she would be 100% comfortable.

Upon interviewing the other staff it was again, revealed extensively that our school does
not provide students with the adequate education to fully understand mental illnesses. A 7th and
8th grade ELA teacher, Joanne Comerford, provided her insights that she did not believe our
students were aware enough on mental illness; confirming that our school must further educate
the children. Mrs. Comerford also admitted that she would have no problem if asked to teach her
students more on mental illness.
(Have yet to interview freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior English teachers)
Matthew Leito, the middle school health teacher, provided his support on expanding his
own health classes for the implementation of mental illness units, claiming, I like to think that
mental illness falls in the hands of health education, and its a great place to start and grow out
cross-curriculum wise (Leito). He also confirmed that he would be greatly comfortable in
educating his own students.
Other interviews were conducted at the high school level and each teacher admitted that
they would be comfortable in teaching mental illness. Due to a suicide that occurred last year at
the high school teachers appear to be more adamant in educating students on mental illness and
explaining to them the symptoms and where they can find help.
Surveys:
At Coventry High School and Captain Nathan Hale Middle School a survey was
conducted to reveal to what extent the students had knowledge of mental illness. Many of the
responses were baffling at how under education the students were. Also, there was a great sense
of ignorance as students believed they were very knowledgeable on the topic when in reality they
did not have the proper education.

10

The first question that was presented was asking the students to record all the mental
illnesses they knew of. Although many students were able to name a good amount, there were
others from the same classes that could not even name one. It was most shocking to receive
responses that claimed Herpes and other STDs were mental illnesses. Students being unable to
record mental illnesses that they know should push administration to recognize that there is a
larger issue that must dealt with.
The second question that was asked was What are the First Three Words that come to
Your Mind when You Hear the Words Mental Illness? Almost every student responded with a
derogatory term, proving that students are not only under educated on mental illness itself, but
there is a sense of ignorance that is exacerbating the stigma that suffocates those who suffer from
mental illness. The phrase crazy was repeated over and over again. If students had the proper
knowledge on mental illness they would understand that terms like that are not to be used when
describing a person.
The survey overall revealed a lack of knowledge in the Coventry Public Schools.

Final Call to Action

Mental illness is not a topic that should remain in societys taboo mentality. People are
constantly suffering in silence due to the stigma that is derived from ignorance. At Coventry
High School, the ignorance must be replaced with knowledge so that our school system can
openly aid those who are in need and feel as though they have nowhere else to go. Students will
respond positively to education that will allow them to become better adults in the future, and
give them a sense of maturity when in the school atmosphere. Coventry Public Schools must take
action and provide students with extensive education on mental illness.
Works Cited

11

Adams, Jane. "President Obama Calls on Teachers to Help Identify Mental Health
Disorders in Students." EdSource. EdSource, 3 June 2013. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.
Boenig, Ms. "Mental Illness with Ms. Boenig." Personal interview. 23 Feb. 2016.
Comerford, Mrs. "Mental Illness with Mrs. Comerford." Personal interview. 23 Feb.
2016.
Entwisle, Mrs. "Mental Illness with Mrs. Entwisle." Personal interview. 23 Feb. 2016.
Fleming, Blythe Mental Illness in Schools. Survey. Google Forms. 12 February 2016.
Fox, Mrs. "Mental Illness with Ms. Fox." Personal interview. 23 Feb. 2016.
Giberson, Mr. "Mental Illness with Mr. Giberson." Personal interview. 23 Feb. 2016.
Goodale, Mrs. "Mental Illness with Mrs. Goodale." Personal interview. 23 Feb. 2016.
Leito, Mr. "Mental Illness with Mr. Leito." Personal interview. 23 Feb. 2016.
"Mental Health By the Numbers." NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI,
2016. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.
Rapp, David. "The End of Textbooks?" The Stacks. Scholastic Inc., Nov.-Dec. 2008.
Web. 04 Feb. 2016.
Roza, Marguerite. "Breaking Down School Budgets." EducationNext. RSS, 16 Aug.
2009. Web. 04 Feb. 2016.

Annotated Bibliography

12

Adams, Jane. "President Obama Calls on Teachers to Help Identify Mental Health
Disorders in Students." EdSource. EdSource, 3 June 2013. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.
President Obama beckons school systems to aid students with mental illness. He
encourages the idea that those who suffer from mental illnesses are not violent. He also raises the
awareness of high suicide rates in those who are mentally ill when attempting to gain support.
The author of this article is Jane Meredith Adams, She is currently a senior reporter at EdSource.
She was formerly employed at Boston Globe as reporter. She has an A.B. in government from
Harvard University and an M.A. in English and an M.F.A. in Writing from San Francisco State
University.
Coventry Mission Statement and Expectations - Coventry High School. Coventry High
School. Coventry High School. Web. 24 Jan2016.
The mission statement of Coventry High School is the basis of the expectations for the
students and staff. It touches on Civic and Academic expectations. Although this does not have
one single author it is credible since this is the school where this proposal is being based off.
English Teachers, and Health Teachers. "Mental Illness in Schools." Interview by Blythe
Fleming. n.d.: n. pag. Print.
I have yet to conduct my interviews however, I plan to interview the health and English
teachers to gain support from the staff of the school. I would like interview Mr. Blake as well to
gain support from the administration. I would also like to conclude if teachers would be
comfortable teaching students on the topic of mental illness.
Fleming, Blythe Mental Illness in Schools. Survey. Google Forms. 12 February 2016.
I have yet to conduct my survey, however, I wish to expose the ignorance in our school
systems. My target audience is middle school and high school students. I will use the data to

13

further support my claim that students are lacking the knowledge they need to understand and
except mental illnesses.
"Mental Health By the Numbers." NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. NAMI,
2016. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.
This article is mostly facts and statistics on mentally ill persons in the United States. It
touches on the prevalence of mental illness, social status, and the problems if mental illness is
not treated. Although there is not one single author this website is the National Alliance on
Mental Health. Currently they are the nation's largest organization for mental illness.
Rapp, David. "The End of Textbooks?" The Stacks. Scholastic Inc., Nov.-Dec. 2008.
Web. 04 Feb. 2016.
Roza, Marguerite. "Breaking Down School Budgets." EducationNext. RSS, 16 Aug.
2009. Web. 04 Feb. 2016.

Appendix A:
See attached sheet.

Appendix B:

14

Interview: High School/Middle School Health and English Teachers/Administration (Ms.

Boenig)
i.

1. Do you believe that schools should play a role in suicide prevention? Why or why not.
Yes I do think they should play a role saying that health already plays such a big role in giving

students information in their curriculum.

2. Are you aware that 90% of people who commit suicide suffer from a mental illness? (NAMI)
i.
I wasn't aware of that statistic but I was aware of that.
3. How would you describe our current efforts to educate students on mental illness?
i.
I don't think we do enough.
4. To what extent would you say students are aware of both symptoms of mental illness and how to
i.

seek support?
I don't think in 8th grade that they are aware, at being such a young age, of what it is. It's mostly
the teachers and the guidance counselors who notice that and then report it to the parents. At this

age they just don't know.

5. Could you elaborate if and how your curriculum touches upon mental illness?
i.
Our current curriculum does not touch upon mental illness whatsoever.
6. Which mental illness do you think is most prevalent among our students and why?
i.
I think it would be depression because I see students who are isolated or they are being picked
on by others and they're not connecting. I will say that I think having Scott Drizzle come in and
talk to them about the internet and how it can affect them such as snapchat facebook and twitter
and the negative comments they can make about others. I think that has helped.
7. To what extent does social media contribute to mental illness?
8. Which content area best addresses/educates mental illness?
i.
I would say again the health. I don't know their curriculum but I would guess.
9. What courses would you expand and where?
i.
I think perhaps english with maybe I know we're doing more nonfiction articles and I know we
do a unit on autism so that has made awareness and it helps students understand anyone who is
integrated into the class so that helps them as well.
10. Could you elaborate on what your comfort level would be if you were asked to teach on mental
i.

illness?
100% I don't have a problem with it.
Interview: High School/Middle School Health and English Teachers/Administration (Mrs.
Commerford)

15

1. Do you believe that schools should play a role in suicide prevention? Why or why not.
i.
Absolutely I do feel that we should play a role because this is the one place that students come
for such a long period of time that it seems to be kind of our responsibility to notice and
recognize it and provide help.
2. Are you aware that 90% of people who commit suicide suffer from a mental illness? (NAMI)
i.
I believe that.
3. How would you describe our current efforts to educate students on mental illness?
i.
I think we could do a better job and I think based on society I think that its easier for people to
just turn their back and ignore and pretend it doesn't exist. I think we do best in our school when
trying to recognize it, as far as educating our students I think we lack.
4. To what extent would you say students are aware of both symptoms of mental illness and how to
seek support?
Probably not as aware as they should be.
5. Could you elaborate if and how your curriculum touches upon mental illness?
i.
I don't know if we touch on mental illness but we do touch on disorders such as autism,
i.

asperger's. We do address differences and try to help students recognize that everyone is different
and we need to acknowledge who they are. But I wouldn't say we really delve into mental illness
overall.
6. Which mental illness do you think is most prevalent among our students and why?
i.
Probably depression. I think that there's a lot of things going on at home with students. I think
it's hard for students, hard for young people to walk in the door and know how to put it away and
move on with what they have to do here. It's hard, there's so many things going on at home,
there's so many issues just in our community, people are unemployed, people are going through
divorce, students are experiencing death and that has to somewhat play into depression in our
students.
7. To what extent does social media contribute to mental illness?
i.
Contribute to mental illness? I don't know if media contributes to mental illness. I think mental
illness. I dont believe playing games or anything of that sort would contribute to mental illness
unless said person was already suffering then it might exacerbate the illness.
8. Which content area best addresses/educates mental illness?
i.
I'm not sure, perhaps health.

16

9. What courses would you expand and where?

i.
I would be willing to bet that ELA could touch upon mental illness, including literature, stories,
about young people going through mental illness and provide articles that touch on the subject to
provide information.
10. Could you elaborate on what your comfort level would be if you were asked to teach on mental
i.

illness?
I would be comfortable with it. Id be very comfortable doing that.
Interview: High School/Middle School Health and English Teachers/Administration

1. Do you believe that schools should play a role in suicide prevention? Why or why not.
i.
Absolutely. I would think as teachers in school we have close contact with our students and we
guide them the best we can so I think we should play a huge roll.
2. Are you aware that 90% of people who commit suicide suffer from a mental illness? (NAMI)
i.
I was unaware of that.
3. How would you describe our current efforts to educate students on mental illness?
i.
I know that we do talk about things, we take them very elementary to start out with 6th grade.
We talk about peer pressure and our social and mental health. And in 7th and 8th grade we do
touch more into more serious and heavy topics. We create a nice base for them at the middle
school. I think we do a nice job but I also think there is always room for improvement.
4. To what extent would you say students are aware of both symptoms of mental illness and how to
i.

seek support?
I think rather well. They know how to obtain resources that are pertained to what they want.
They know they have trusted and good outlets here at the school, adults that they can speak to on

the topic. Do I think they feel open to doing it? I think thats a case by case situation.
5. Could you elaborate if and how your curriculum touches upon mental illness?
i.
Lets focus on the 6th grade health curriculum for that. Like i mentioned before it talks about
trying to set up a base for the students and on helping them out in talking about their self esteem
and in how they view themselves, you know how they put themselves in situations. Talking
about peer pressure, decision making; for that as far as it talks to correlation of that to suicide
awareness um its not heavy in the 6th grade health. I like to think that we build up a good
baseline that they can work at and introduce some mental health.

17

6. Which mental illness do you think is most prevalent among our students and why?
i.
I think as their health teacher I dont necessarily get privy to all that information but we do talk
with guidance counselors and support staff here and I think depression is probably something
youll see. Youll see students having trouble just managing their emotions.
7. To what extent does social media contribute to mental illness?
i.
I think greatly.
8. Which content area best addresses/educates mental illness?
i.
I like to think health and P.E. education definitely do their part. I dont know how to rank them
but I think we do talk about having confidence and students having positive outlets to continue
building their confidence.
9. What courses would you expand and where?
i.
I like to think health. I think it falls into the hands of health education and I think thats a great
place to start and then grow out cross-curriculum wise.
10. Could you elaborate on what your comfort level would be if you were asked to teach on mental
i.

illness?
Scale 1-10? Depending on the age of students and support from administration, I think greatly.
It would be a 9 or 10 if it was being welcomed into the community and in collaboration with the
administration and their support services.

18