Howl Editorial Board

Picture this: a student has work until 9 p.m.; an 8 a.m. class to attend the next day — with a class right after and another at 2 p.m.; five assignments due in a couple of days; is currently running on four hours of sleep and is most definitely in need of a break to give themself time to breathe. Yet, the idea of taking a day off from classes brings them more stress, since one of those classes is big on attendance and this particular student doesn’t have a doctor’s note to excuse themself from being absent.

As college students, we are constantly balancing many different things at a time — rigorous school-work, part-time or full-time jobs, maintaining personal relationships and taking care of ourselves. This gets extremely overwhelming, yet students don’t have much of a chance to take time for themselves during the term. That’s when we should have the option to take a mental health day, whether that’s for relaxing and taking a break from overstimulation, or using it to catch up with schoolwork. 

However, Western’s policy indicates that a student must have a doctor’s note to excuse themselves; this is implying that mental health is not a good enough “excuse” to miss school, and can force students to feel the need to attend class when they are not at their best. This is infantilizing, as we are grown adults who can decide for ourselves if a day off is needed to better our well-being. Furthermore, this assumes that everyone has access to a doctor at their beck and call, which isn’t always true — not to mention, a bit unrealistic. Everyone struggles in different areas, and a mental health day is an escape that’s needed occasionally in our day-to-day lives.

The fact that a student could risk their grade dropping severely is an additional stress that’s unneeded, but can affect a student’s mental health even further. If a class has someone drowning in schoolwork, that student should be able to take a day in order to one, catch up with all of the damn assignments, and two, better themselves fully, without getting “permission” from a doctor to do so. 

The problem with it being unexcused without this piece of paper is that some classes don’t allow more than two unexcused absences; this contributes to the stigma of students putting their classes above all else, including their jobs, social lives and overall health. As students, we live with the stress of juggling dozens of responsibilities at once, and we don’t need the added stress of our grades dropping due to attendance while we are trying to get well. Even if we’ve reached out to get homework on the days that we’ve missed, if we have still done the readings, gone to those study groups or sought out tutoring — at the end of the day, all you amount to is how well your brain or body is functioning, right? 

Students should feel comforted knowing they have the option to willingly take a day off without their grade suffering. If the university allowed students to have at least one mental health day, they can come back feeling rejuvenated and ready to come back stronger. Most of us are paying money to be here; most of us see a future with us holding a diploma; we understand that it’s up to us how we get there and we don’t need educators or administrators policing that process.