An opinion on the mental health benefits of a fall reading week
With students returning from their winter reading week, hopefully refreshed and ready to finish the semester off, one question must be asked: why don’t we have a fall reading week?
Several Ontario universities have adopted a weeklong break during the fall semester, yet Guelph is not among them. After news of four recent student deaths related to mental health and an increasing number of students reaching out for counselling, a reading week appears to be an effective aid to release the stress that can build during the first part of the semester.
University is stressful, and it can be a competitive environment where students often have to deal with stress, depression, and anxiety.
An article in The Globe and Mail states that one-in-five Canadian post-secondary students face some form of mental illness. Coupled with the fact that students are usually distanced from their families, and must face the ordeals of living on their own, it is easy to see why mental health affects university students so significantly.
The fall semester can be especially difficult for freshman students who are experiencing the huge leap from high school, and are usually still quite young.
The Student Mental Health Framework has launched efforts to address the increasing issue at Guelph, such as updating the training given to counsellors. Additionally, they are focusing on early detection and preventative measures by using Vocantas, a call system that could be used to assess early symptoms of students and connect them to proper support.
Counselling Services at the university have been flooded, with requests for appointments rising every day and wait times between appointments often spanning a month. Some solutions are being discussed such as the possibility of reducing the meeting time down from an hour to half of one, which is disconcerting.
Thus, the University of Guelph should consider a fall reading week. A week off during the middle of the fall semester, when assignments and midterms are often scheduled, is valuable time for students to relieve stress and manage their workload.
Moreover, this time can be used to reconnect with the family and friends that students are often separated from and spend some time relaxing. The report also found that students are often stressed for financial reasons, so a fall reading week could also allow students to work extra hours to pay for the plethora of expenses that come along with university.Dr. Su-Ting Teo, the director of student health and wellness at Ryerson University told The Globe and Mail in 2013 that, “There is the perception still I think in the public that students have it easy… I’m not saying that it isn’t that for many students, but I don’t think people recognize just how much students have to juggle these days.”
Of course, there is the issue of how the fall reading week would fit into the rest of the semester. There is a possibility that implementing one will reduce the amount of days kept for orientation week, or lengthen the exam period closer to the holidays. However, when considering the benefits of having a break in the fall, the issue of timing becomes very miniscule.
The University of Guelph should consider following the lead of other Ontario universities by implementing a fall reading week to assist its students. After the recent deaths of four students, lowering the flags to half-mast is simply not enough to deal with this rising issue.