Why Student Help-Seeking Matters
Young people spend a significant portion of their lives at school, making schools an important setting for mental health education, prevention and early support. The CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 40% of high school students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, while 29% reported poor mental health.
But recognizing that students are struggling is only part of the challenge. Schools also need to consider whether students know how to seek support and feel able to take that step.
The Erika's Lighthouse Youth Help-Seeking Around Mental Health report found an important gap: 93% of students identified a teacher as a potential trusted adult, but only 50% felt comfortable talking with a trusted adult at school about their mental health.
This suggests that schools should look beyond simply providing resources. They can also teach students what help-seeking looks like, make support pathways visible, and create repeated opportunities to practice and normalize asking for help.
1. Make Help-Seeking Part of Everyday School Culture
Students shouldn't hear about mental health only during a crisis or once-a-year awareness campaign. Schools can make help-seeking a normal part of the student experience by incorporating it into regular education, communication and activities.
This can include:
The goal is to make the message simple and consistent: asking for help is a healthy response when something feels difficult to manage.
2. Teach Students How to Recognize When They Need Help
Students cannot seek support if they don't recognize that something may be wrong. Mental health literacy gives students the knowledge to recognize concerns and understand what to do next.
Schools can teach students to:
A systematic review published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing examined 53 global adolescent suicide prevention studies (Read the systematic review on PubMed). Help-seeking was measured in 67% of the studies, while knowledge and awareness were measured in 94%. The review found positive findings among studies measuring outcomes such as help-seeking, knowledge, attitudes and coping.
The takeaway is that mental health education provides an important foundation, but works best as part of a broader school mental health strategy.
3. Teach Students What to Do When They Need Help
Knowing that help is available is different from knowing how to ask for it. Schools can make help-seeking more concrete by teaching students what the process looks like.
For example, students can learn to:
These skills can be incorporated into classroom lessons, advisory activities or schoolwide mental health education. For more on the role of supportive adults, see Erika's Lighthouse's article on How Schools Can Help Staff Become Trusted Adults.
4. Make Support Pathways Easy to Find
A student may be ready to seek help and still not know where to start. Schools can reduce this barrier by making support information easy to find and easy to understand.
Schools should clearly communicate:
This information should be posted on school websites, student handbooks, classrooms, and common areas, and made easily accessible via QR codes, emails, and text messages.
5. Give Students Multiple Ways to Ask for Help
Students differ in how comfortable they are asking for help and in the adults or settings they prefer. A single referral option may not work for every student.
Schools can provide multiple entry points, such as:
Providing options doesn't mean creating a complicated system. It means giving students more than one reasonable way to take the first step.
6. Use Student Voice to Identify Barriers to Help-Seeking
Schools should not assume they know what prevents students from asking for help. Students can provide valuable information about what feels accessible, confusing, uncomfortable or useful.
Schools can ask students:
Erika's Lighthouse Empowerment Clubs provide one way for students to take an active role in promoting mental health and help-seeking within their school. The clubs are student-led and include activities designed to reduce stigma and promote help-seeking.
7. Engage Families and the Broader Support Network
Help-seeking doesn't happen only at school. The Youth Help-Seeking report found that 96% of students identified a parent or grandparent as a trusted adult, and more than 75% felt comfortable discussing mental health at home.
Schools can support this network by sharing:
Erika's Lighthouse Family Engagement resources include family workbooks, workshops and tools designed to help families start conversations about mental health and support their children.
A Comprehensive Approach to Student Help-Seeking
There isn't one program, training or strategy that will make every student comfortable asking for help. Schools can build a stronger help-seeking environment by combining key elements into a cohesive strategy:
Mental Health Literacy Help-Seeking Skills Clear Support Pathways Multiple Access Points Student Voice & Family Engagement
A classroom lesson can introduce the knowledge and language students need. A well-designed school system makes it easier to act on that knowledge.
A Quick Evaluation Framework
Schools can periodically ask themselves the following to evaluate their culture:
| Focus | Ask Your School | Look For |
| Mental health literacy |
Do students know how to recognize when they may need help? | Classroom education, lessons, resources |
| Help-seeking skills | Do students know what to do when they need support? | Lessons, practice, clear guidance |
| Support pathways | Do students know where to go and what to expect? | Visible referral information |
| Multiple access points | Are there several ways to seek support? | Counselors, referrals, trusted adults, resources |
| Student voice | Does the school know what barriers students experience? | Surveys, focus groups, student leadership |
| Family engagement | Are families included in help-seeking efforts? | Parent education, resources, communication |
| Measurement | Does the school know where gaps exist? | Culture surveys, evaluations, data-informed improvement |
Schools looking to use data to guide their approach can explore the Erika's Lighthouse Data Center.
Bring This Approach to Your School
Every student should know what to do when they or someone they care about may need mental health support.
Erika's Lighthouse provides free, evidence-informed K-12 mental health programs designed to build mental health literacy, reduce stigma and encourage help-seeking. Its school-based programs include: Classroom Education | Empowerment Clubs | Family Engagement | Policy & Staff Training.
For schools looking to get started, explore Erika's Lighthouse's free K-12 mental health programs and resources.