Many high school students experience mental health challenges that deeply affect all facets of their lives. For many teens, mental health can feel like a battlefield, consuming the adolescent mind, taking captive one’s personality, interests, and sense of self. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “one in seven 10-19 year-olds experience a mental health disorder,” WHO emphasizes that, “the consequences of failing to address adolescent mental health conditions extend to adulthood, impairing both physical and mental health, and limiting opportunities to lead fulfilling lives as adults.” This data not only represents the immediate effects of poor mental health but also shines a light on its future repercussions, if not addressed. Moreover, a study conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) showed that “between 2016 and 2020, the number of children ages 3-17 years diagnosed with depression grew by 27%, in the U.S. alone.” This drastic increase over four years of adolescents struggling with mental health can be tied back to multiple factors. These factors include social media, the COVID-19 pandemic, social pressures, academic stress, and familial situations. Awareness of declining mental health is one of the most prevalent issues of our time, especially for teenagers, and it proves to be harmful if left unaddressed. Consequently, Parker’s administration and students have made strides in combating mental health and in providing support for those who struggle.
In light of the prevalence of teenage mental health issues, two current Parker seniors, Payton Yagoda and Eli Flaum, created a club entitled MENtal Health Club, a safe environment for male-identifying students to discuss their mental health openly. The two decided to implement this club in Parker because “we believed that this space was missing from Parker, and wanted to fill this gap with a club that allowed students to be able to share their opinions and be supported by others,” senior Payton Yagoda said.
The club works in partnership with Parker Alum, class of ‘82, Jason Rosenthal. Rosenthal lost his wife, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, in 2017 to ovarian cancer. Krouse Rosenthal had a career as an author and short film maker, leaving her soon-to-be-widowed husband with an article in the New York Times’s “Modern Love” series, titled “You May Want to Marry My Husband.” In this article, Krouse Rosenthal intentionally left a blank space for her husband to continue his life. Following her death, Rosenthal left his long-time career as a lawyer to return to school and become a therapist specializing in grief and loss, filling the blank space.
Rosenthal’s ties to the Parker community and his expertise in mental health drew him to form a connection with the MENtal Health Club. “I wanted to partner with the MENtal Health Club because it’s student-led, stigma-breaking, and action-oriented, all values that align with my work. As a Parker alum, I care about giving current students practical tools and a model of healthy vulnerability, especially for boys and young men who are often told to ‘tough it out,’’’ Rosenthal said. The MENtal Health Club is equally ecstatic to be involved in this partnership. “Since Parker didn’t have a male counselor at the time, we were put in contact with Mr. Rosenthal, and that’s when we learned his remarkable story. Having Mr. Rosenthal work with us has been super beneficial to the club’s success. Dr. Rosenthal is incredibly educated on topics like mental health and depression, so having him in the room when students are curious or concerned is super helpful,” Yagoda said.
Rosenthal, in conjunction with the MENtal Health Club, spoke to the Parker student body at an MX titled “The Realness of Mental Health.” At the MX, Rosenthal discussed his background, how he got into the field of mental health, and shared information about the topic, emphasizing to students that “you’re not alone, struggle is common, help works, and asking for help is strength,” Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal also touched on topics that MENtal Health Club works to combat. Specifically, the idea of a stigma being attached to mental health for men in society because of ideas of toxic masculinity. Toxic masculinity is defined by “Very Well Mind”, a mental health awareness publication, as “a set of harmful social norms and behaviors associated with some traditional ideas of manhood, such as emotional repression, aggression, dominance, and self-reliance to an extreme.” The MENtal health club works to fight the stigma to create a safe atmosphere for open discussion. The club is valued in the Parker community, with “Mr. Bruno [Upper School Dean of Students], as our faculty advisor, [meeting] with us numerous times to ensure that the club is very successful and helpful to students at Parker,” Flaum said. Additionally, the club’s work and their MX presentation have received praise from the Upper School counselors. “The most powerful approach when it comes to destigmatizing mental health is for it to be peer-to-peer. I see you, and it is a strength for you to seek support, whatever that may look like. These are conversations that were happening in their group [MENtal Health Club], and to have it with the larger community, I think it really helps to destigmatize mental health,” Upper School Counselor, Kristian Williams said. No matter one’s gender, mental health is real and deserves equal support and attention, steering the central focus of the MX away from gender and towards tools for everyone to use.
In addition to student-led initiatives like MENtal health club, Parker has multiple systems in place, on the administrative end, for student support. In emphasis of the work Parker has done, “Parker is one of the most open and available institutions I have seen in terms of making mental health options available to students,” Rosenthal said. Systems like student-advisor check-ins, clubs, affinity groups, and counselors comprise the student support systems at Parker. However, there is even more that goes on behind the scenes. “The counselors are part of what’s called the Student Support Team, which I’m not sure how much students are aware of. The Student Support team is composed of the head of the Upper School, the Dean of Students, the learning resource specialists, and the student counselors, ”The team meets really regularly to just keep eyes out for students who might be struggling in a variety of different ways and a variety of different spaces. We [the counselors] are within a much larger and a much more complex support system.” In the eyes of the average person it seems that Parker is doing what it can to support students. Rosenthal’s earlier statement even confirms this hypothesis. However, “in any school, though,
mental health support is a living system, not a finished product,” Rosenthal said. This caveat is not one that is just applicable to Parker, but society as mental health support continues to develop.
Looking forward, the systems Parker currently has in place are meeting the threshold of what must be done at this moment in time. As society moves forward, it is vital to strive to do more and push past the barriers of adequate or acceptable. What Parker students have already done with MENtal Health Club can be a model for this. As for the club’s longevity within the Parker student body, “just keeping the club alive and running after Eli and I are gone is enough for us. Hopefully, this year we can find students who are willing to put in the work and provide a space for future students to participate in,” Yagoda said.
The mission of the MENtal Health Club is a living representation of the human experience, and how it can differ from one person to the next. One thing remains true: everyone needs some form of support. Rosenthal reminds us that, “cultural expectations still tell many boys and young men to be stoic, to avoid words like ‘sad’ or ‘afraid,’ and to handle everything alone because that can delay help-seeking. Girls, in contrast, are often encouraged to talk about feelings, but may face different pressures, appearance, perfectionism, or online comparison,” Rosenthal said. “Students who are nonbinary or transgender can encounter unique stressors and barriers to care. The goal is the same for everyone: normalize help, expand language for emotions, and open multiple doors into support.” Everyone has an individualized experience in life, especially when it comes to mental health. Thus, it is vital to ensure that support is accessible and perpetually advancing for all, regardless of gender.
To learn more about Dr. Rosenthal and his important work, please visit his personal webpage https://www.jasonbrosenthal.com/about. For further exploration into Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s life and legacy please visit her foundation’s website https://www.amykrouserosenthalfoundation.org/. Although isolating, mental health is not an independent struggle. Seek help. Reach out to peers and professionals. You are not alone.
