Final Paper

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English

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Apr 3, 2024

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Morse 1 Madison Morse Professor Bircher ENG-201-800 3 December 2023 “Our problems do not define you.” "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world." When you read this, what comes to your mind? When I saw this quote for the first time, it made me think that we should start changing the world by changing our education system. The education system is something everyone will go through at some point in their life, but only so many will use those skills in their life to make real change happen. However, we grow up in our education system, ignoring some of the biggest daily challenges that teachers and students face. Moreover, more needs to be done to make it better for everyone. In this paper, we will cover some of the most significant issues being researched within our education system to make it better for children and human teaching. We will bring all problems from the shadows and focus on what most will ignore as they go through school. Unfortunately, this is not a new argument, but the awareness that needs to be raised should be higher than ever. Kids in elementary school are now coming home from school unhappy and tired, as kids in elementary school around ten years ago could not wait to return the next day because our educators are tired and continuously overworked. We need more than we need for people to have the education they need. Addressing the issues in our education system will bring awareness to students' and teachers' mental health, school safety and bullying, and the lack of funding that our schools are receiving.

Morse 2 With the heavy workload that both teachers and students are being given, research shows that their mental health is declining due to the amount of stress they are facing. For example, as students are getting older, not only do their scores in schools start to matter, but the amount of responsibility they have will start to increase because you are growing into an adult. Teachers also feel the same way because their classroom scores sometimes tell their bosses how much work they do for their students and how much they should be paid. In North Carolina, our teachers are paid based on their performance, so their stress needs to be low to do an excellent job for their students and themselves. In a study, researchers from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, gave 638 unique students surveys about their stress levels and how it affected their overall mental health. It was found that during the last year of school, students have the highest stress, and teachers have the highest amount at the beginning of the school year (V.M. Wuthrich et al.). This research that is being done on this issue clearly shows that even though we know what the central issue is here, we are not doing as much as we can to help not only our students but also our educators. The study also tells us that our teachers are most likely more stressed out in states like North Carolina because their pay is based on how well their students are doing, which comes down to their teaching style. Not every student is the same, so our educators oversee finding that in between where everyone is learning and doing better for the teacher to be seen as "doing a good job." There has been research on cognitive therapy programs for those with high stress, but what schools are using that kind of resource? The overall workload is becoming too much for not only our students but for our teachers as well. Just because we are learning a new topic does not mean we have to do a big chunk of assignments along with it. Students with a close bond with a teacher or administrator in their school say they feel safer and lessen their chances of being bullied. Researchers from the University of Arizona and

Morse 3 Syracuse University were able to find that students who have a close bond with one of their teachers stop them from suffering from psychological disorders as well as peer victimization. They could take data from 539 high school students; each student was asked about what teacher they may be close to, but they also took data from their schoolwork and how they answered some of the questions. The conclusion was that students with a teacher-student relationship were not only doing better in school but also enjoyed school more than other students who did not have that kind of relationship. Schools should implement this to help with psychological disorders and bullying (Sulkowski). This study has proven that having a trusted adult within the school a student attends is highly beneficial to the student and the adult they trust. It also reduces the chances of a student getting bullied, but the student will feel safer because there is the feeling that someone has their back in their mind. Most schools in the United States give students surveys throughout the year to ask what school employees they trust and who they could go to if there were a problem. Researchers will continue finding other methods to reduce bullying and make students feel more safe. Teachers do not get enough attention when it comes to mental health awareness, and studies show that their mental health depends on the mental health of their students. "Adults who have psychological disorders tend to have had these problems since their adolescent years" (page 180). However, when adults work with more children, they tend to see themselves in their students' issues, which will bring their whole mood down. Teachers are constantly tired, but we are always worried about the kids and how they are doing so that no one checks on our teachers. Research at the University of Bristol aimed to find if good mental health in a student was linked to the good mental health of teachers. It was found that academic scores were higher for students when a teacher's mental health was improving, and all the kids had positive relationships with

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Morse 4 their teachers (Harding et al.). This study proved that teachers depend on their students for a good day. Children are the ones that make us laugh and put smiles on faces, and in this case that is being researched, the students and putting smiles on teacher's faces. It is how humans are in the real world. We see someone who may be sad; we almost want to empathize with how they are feeling, so we start to feel down. Educators are the same way; it was studied that students are the ones who make the mental health of a teacher better. They can count on their students to make them feel better when they have bad days. Even though there needs to be more direct programs and help for teachers, students help in more ways than most would think. Older students want to carry their weapons when they go to school because so many students now feel unsafe to go to school due to the increase of school attacks in the United States. Researchers have been trying to find ways for everyone to feel safe at school. Parents refuse to send their children to school because they are "scared" of what could happen. Students have even opened up about bringing their weapons to school so that if something did happen while they were there, they would feel safer and be prepared to take on a fight. Violence within schools has been increasing; in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers have been watching this issue and have concluded that events that happen within schools stem further and affect people further out in their lives (Hodges et al.). With the amount of research done, there is no doubt that more students feel unsafe and uneasy about attending public schools every school year. It is a big problem, and many institutions are working to bring awareness to this issue and find more permanent solutions. There have been many studies that show that those who attack schools were either bullied or had a horrible experience during their time at school. So, if we can stop bullying, there is a chance it will reduce the number of attacks on schools. Just because

Morse 5 students are older and understand more of what is going on in the world does not give them the right to bring weapons and think they can do something about it. Some schools are receiving much funding from the government, while some schools only receive a little but only have a little. The government needs to be equal to all our schools and their needs. When it comes to money and schooling, there are many problems because there is so much that can be done, but it needs to be done intelligently; otherwise, there will be much money wasted or something unnecessary. Funding is also a massive contribution to teacher salaries, so we must ensure that our educators are paid the amount they have earned. Researchers have gone through some issues with school funding, and the most significant issue was that the government does not need to learn more about each school and its needs, not its wants (Grubb et al.). This research showed that money is a problem, especially when it is trying to be shared between many school systems because it is like a gigantic puzzle. There is much greed for some schools, and other schools make do with what they have. All schools should have what they need to have a safe learning environment for their students, and then all the extra wants should be used for the rest of the money left once all schools have what they need to be successful. We need to ensure the government and state are fair to all schools before it becomes a bigger problem that we need help fixing. A teacher's salary could be linked to a teacher's poor mental health. Teachers are our primary source of academic education; this is extremely important because it is becoming a huge problem. Teachers all over the United States have to get second jobs because they cannot live off of what they are making in a teacher salary, and with our increase in living rates, they are all struggling to get by with their money. Teachers' pay plays a considerable role in their mental

Morse 6 health because being a teacher can be stressful and take a lot of their time and work time, but adding another job to the mix may become too much. Researchers studying this found that 12% of teachers leave their jobs every year, and only 25% of that is because of retirement ( Teacher Salary ). There is a link between a teacher's mental health and their salary. There is also a link between their mental health and the massive workload that some teachers end up being given. Teachers are necessary, and if we did not have them, then our education system would not exist in the way that we have it right now. We must care for our teachers and ensure they get what they need to do their jobs to the full expectation. With the amount they do, they should not have to get second jobs; their pay should take them through the summer; we need to do better for them. After researching this paper, I have learned that our education system has many more issues than I intended to learn about. I knew there were some general issues, which is my focus, but you learn more in-depth while researching. The people who read this paper all the way through should think about their experience in the school system and think back to when there was an issue they ignored and walked past. This paper matters to everyone because this is how we all change our education system and help the people who need help. We are going to make a long-term change. Researching this topic is essential because I am almost at the end of school, so I will not have to deal with the problems that the teachers and students face. However, I also have younger siblings who will be in school for a long time. I want them to be happy and not have to deal with the difficulties of mental health, being safe in school, or worrying that they cannot do the sports they love because it is not funded or supported by the school system. Anyone can relate to this paper in one way or another, and this is how we start opening the minds of people who are willing and wanting to help.

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Morse 7 My question and ask for everyone is that after reading this paper, what are you going to do? How are you going to make a change to our education system. There are more problems that were not discussed in my paper but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. I want you to go around school, especially if you attend one, and look around. What do you see, and what do you want to change? This is the start to us making a change.

Morse 8 Works Cited Page Grubb, W. N., & Allen, R. G. D. (2010). Rethinking school funding, resources, incentives, and outcomes. Journal of Educational Change , 12 (1), 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-010-9146-6 Harding, S., Morris, R. W., Gunnell, D., Ford, T., Hollingworth, W., Tilling, K., Evans, R., Bell, S., Grey, J., Brockman, R., Campbell, R., Araya, R., Murphy, S., & Kidger, J. (2019). Is teachers’ mental health and wellbeing associated with students’ mental health and wellbeing? Journal of Affective Disorders , 242 , 180–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.08.080 Hodges, J. C., Walker, D. T., Baum, C. F., & Hawkins, S. S. (2023). Impact of school shootings on adolescent school safety, 2009–2019. American Journal of Public Health , 113 (4), 438–441. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2022.307206 Sulkowski, M. L. (n.d.). The Protective Role of Teacher-Student Relationships against Peer Victimization and Psychosocial Distress. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1165814 Teacher salary and how it relates to job satisfaction - ProQuest . (n.d.). https://www.proquest.com/openview/398023797acc4f1e57f531ac678e0396/1?pq- origsite=gscholar&cbl=1056382 Wuthrich, V. M., Belcher, J., Kilby, C. J., Jagiello, T., & Lowe, C. (2021). Tracking stress, depression, and anxiety across the final year of secondary school: A longitudinal study. Journal of School Psychology , 88 , 18–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2021.07.004

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