It’s no secret that students are facing more stress than ever in recent years, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Bristol-Warren Regional School District, there could be an app for that.
The district has entered into a partnership with Counslr, a text-based mental health support mobile app that offers unlimited texting sessions with licensed and vetted mental health support professionals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Faculty within the district already have access to the app, and students will be allowed to use it beginning in the fall, according to a press release. Counslr was founded in New York, but works with schools and employers all over the country. The Bristol-Warren partnership will be the company’s first with a Rhode Island school district.
“The need is great, and we are thrilled to begin working toward a solution with the Counslr team,” Superintendent Ana Riley said in a statement. “As we see a continued rise in the need for mental health support, we are fully embracing the opportunities that Counslr provides for both our faculty and students.”
Riley is in the running to Fall River’s next superintendent, according to the Fall River Herald News.
The bigger picture: Student survey data from last school year shows only 20 percent of sixth through 12th graders in Bristol-Warren felt quite connected or extremely connected to adults at their school. Similarly, only a quarter of students said they felt people at their school understood them as a person. Both of those stats were slightly worse than the state average.
Partnerships with companies like Counslr are designed to help decrease the stigma around seeking mental health support, especially since conversations with the professionals can be private. It’s also not exactly easy to find immediate appointments with psychologists these days, so students and faculty are likely to have an easier time making an initial connection with a professional through the app.
This story first appeared in Rhode Map, our free newsletter about Rhode Island that also contains information about local events, links to interesting stories, and more. If you’d like to receive it via e-mail Monday through Friday, you can sign up here.
Dan McGowan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @danmcgowan.