This School Year, Prioritize Youth Mental Health. Here’s How

By Steve Bullock | October 1, 2025

Each fall, back-to-school season is celebrated as a time of fresh beginnings: new classrooms, sharpened pencils, and the promise of possibilities. But for many students, this transition brings about a new wave of pressures. Behind the first-day photos and welcome-back banners, many young people enter school buildings carrying an invisible weight of anxiety, stress, and mental health challenges.

Being a student today is vastly different from what it was a generation ago. School safety drills are routine. Academic competition among peers starts earlier and runs deeper. Students face mounting pressure to participate in multiple extracurricular activities to boost college applications. Economic uncertainty in the country adds stress to what their future will look like. Increased device usage among teens can both facilitate and undermine social connection. Combined with the lingering effects of a pandemic that disrupted learning, friendships, and routines, it’s no surprise that rates of anxiety and depression among youth are rising.

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