The current state of wellbeing in schools

1 in 5 kids. That’s how many children experience a mental disorder every single year. 

Most don’t get help. Most will keep showing up to school, trying to do their best and not disappoint their parents or teachers. And most of us won’t even notice there’s something wrong with them. 

Did you know that nearly half of all mental health conditions in students start before the age of 14? Yes, 14! And we’re still wondering why wellbeing in schools should be a must?

These aren’t numbers from a movie or a series (although I wish they were). They’re from public data. They’re real, documented numbers. 

 

Do you remember what you were doing when you were 14? 

Most probably your activities did not involve doomscrolling different social media platforms endlessly for hours a day. Our kids nowadays have it very different than we did at their own age. 

And we’ll dive into what it means for them to grow up in such an online world like the one we’re living in today. 

So no. This is not just a phase. It’s the beginning of an era that can shape the rest of their lives, and the next of our generations. 

And that is why, today, I’ve chosen to talk to you about Adolescence: the Netflix series that has gotten so much recognition because it’s uncomfortably close to our real lives.

And maybe it’s something we should be watching not just at home on our couches, but in schools too. With our students.

And with our teachers, as a team. 

Because after all, they are among the ones who are supposed to notice, support, and guide these students through it all, right?

 

When our teachers aren’t okay, our schools suffer

We’ve already come to the conclusion that our teachers are at the heart of any school. You can’t build a strong school culture without them. 

A report by the IBO also confirms this: teacher wellbeing is one of the biggest factors shaping how students perform and grow as human beings. 

So, if our teachers are running on empty, the ripple effects reach every corner of the classroom, including our students. 

And right now? Many of our teachers are beyond tired.

A survey from the National Education Association found that teachers are twice as likely to suffer from job-related stress compared to other working adults. Twice.

We’re talking about a profession that requires patience, empathy, creativity, discipline, and constant emotional regulation. Now imagine doing all that… while being completely burned out. Because that’s where a lot of them are. 

And then we wonder why connection feels hard. Why learning feels harder for our students.

 

Wellbeing in schools, or burnout in action?

In Adolescence, the agents visit Jamie’s school to conduct interviews and check on the rest of the kids.

Teachers are yelling. Chaos in the hallways. No one seems to be in control. It’s uncomfortable to watch. But it’s also familiar.

We expect educators to be experts in everything: academic performance, emotional regulation, behaviour management, crisis intervention.

Oh, and also somehow stay calm, joyful, and available for every student, every day. But when the pressure builds up and there’s no real system of support, this is what it looks like. 

And when that’s the school culture? When adults are barely holding it together? We have to ask the hard questions. 

How can students feel safe, connected, or supported in that kind of environment? Because, they’re showing up every day carrying their own weight too, remember? 

 

How the wellbeing crisis is affecting our students 

It’s not just teachers who are overwhelmed. Students are walking into school every day carrying more than we can see.

According to recent surveys, 80% of teachers noticed a drop in students’ mental wellbeing. That’s 8 out of 10 students. Let that sit with you for a second.

While the research focuses more on the pandemic period, things have changed so much since then. Now we have social media. Peer Pressure. Family stress. Sleepless nights.

And many other things that we might not even be aware of – see the Manosphere example at hand, from Adolescence. Angry boys having the wrong hero figures to influence them, and emojis that mean more than we think. 

And that’s a lot. For any parent, teacher, or adult. To know it all, and figure it all out alone. 

 

​​When students aren’t seen

There’s a moment in the first scenes of Adolescence that feels small, but has a deep meaning.

Jamie shares that history is his favourite subject in school.

Later, when the agents are visiting the school and conducting interviews, they meet his history teacher. Who seems to have trouble remembering Jamie.

He didn’t know what he was like, how he behaved in the last weeks, or that he liked his subject in particular. 

It’s kind of heartbreaking. And it’s a perfect example of what it’s like for a teacher who is overflowing with admin tasks and expectations, to not be there truly for their students. 

In overcrowded classrooms, teachers don’t have the space to know every student deeply. Not even the ones who raise their hands more often than the others. 

This isn’t how education should feel. Students should be more than just names on a list.

 

Jade attacks Ryan: when violence speaks louder than words

In the same episode of Adolescence, while the agents talk to Jamie’s history teacher, Jade, a friend of the murdered student, lashes out violently at a classmate – Ryan. Who also happens to be a good friend of Jamie’s.

It’s a brutal scene. Very physical. A crowd of students gathering around with their phones out, laughing and recording, enjoying the moment.

Calling Ryan a “sausage” for “getting beaten up by a girl”.

It’s almost disturbing to watch. But not just because of the fight itself. Because of the deeper message behind it.

This is what it can look like when students don’t know how to express what they’re going through. When grief, anger, fear, or isolation turn into something else entirely.

And the students standing around? Most aren’t being cruel on purpose. They just don’t know how else to react. They’ve grown up in a system that doesn’t speak about emotions or the fact that boys can hurt, too. 

So yes, violence needs to be addressed. But sometimes, what we’re really seeing is a lack of support. And if we don’t look deeper, we risk punishing the behaviour and missing the message.

So yes, we need more resources. More support. More space for wellbeing in schools. But more than anything, we need to stop pretending that wellbeing is something “nice to have” in schools. Because it’s a must, as we can see.

 

Unlimited access to the internet vs. our teenagers’ safety  

We already know the internet isn’t going away. It’s where our kids (and us) learn, connect, explore, and express themselves.

But here’s the part that’s harder to talk about: it’s also the place where they scroll away endlessly into isolation. Or where they get exposed to things they aren’t ready for.

And the solution is not to ban screens or turn off the Wi-Fi in the house. Instead, we should try and ask better questions. Or try to truly get to know them and be a part of their online lives.

A quick exercise – do you have the answer to all these questions when it comes to your kids?

• What are they actually doing online? 
• What communities do they spend time in?
• How many hours a day are they on social media?

And most importantly… it it affecting their wellbeing in any way?

 

The numbers are clear

Research shows that teenagers who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media are more likely to experience mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and poor sleep.

Three hours. That’s not even extreme. It’s almost normal for most teenagers. (By the way: what is your daily screen time?) 

The American Psychological Association has found that while social media can support connection, it also opens the door to cyberbullying, comparison, addictive behaviour, and a steady stream of pressure to be “on” all the time.

One teenager, profiled by The New Yorker, spent more and more time online, getting drawn into dark content and harmful communities. Her mental health declined rapidly, and tragically, it did not end well for her. 

And as shocking as it may seem, this is not a one-time story. It’s part of a rise in teen depression and suicide that has been building since around 2007, closely linked to the rise of smartphones and social media.

We can’t blame the internet for everything. But we also can’t ignore what it’s doing to a generation that’s still figuring out who they are.

 

When home doesn’t mean safe

In one of the last scenes of Adolescence, Jamie’s parents are trying to understand how they were able to miss everything that was going on right in front of them. 

How their child, who was always in his room, ended up in serious trouble. Because let’s be honest – when they are home, they are safer than outside on their own, right?

But in today’s world, a child sitting in their room with a device connected to the internet is not always safe.

The hardest part? Many families, like Jamies’ parents, don’t realise there’s a problem until it’s already too big to handle alone. And we can’t really blame anyone in this. Nor do we want to. It’s just a reality check.

We’re all navigating a landscape that’s changed faster than we’ve been prepared for.

And when communication between schools and parents breaks down, when no one’s checking in, noticing the small changes, or sharing what they’ve seen, the warning signs might get missed.

So the question becomes: how can we bridge that gap earlier, so no parent has to say “we didn’t know” after it’s too late?

See what Ruxandra Mercea, our founder, has to say about the topic, as a school leader and a mother of 4:

 

What schools need to support wellbeing

Adolescence might be a fictional series, but the story that it tells is as real as it can get.

Everything we’ve talked about: the disconnection, the stress, the silence, the missed signs. It’s already happening in real classrooms, in our schools, with our students and teachers.

What this series reminds us is simple: we all need care. As students, and as adults. And the truth is, schools were never designed to carry all of this alone.

Educators care deeply. Parents do too.

But care isn’t enough without structure. Without support. Without systems in place that catch the signals before they become crises. And that’s where things can start to change.

 

Real support for student and teacher wellbeing

We’ve seen the weight that teacher burnout, student stress, and digital pressure can place on an entire school community.

But we’ve also seen what’s possible when wellbeing is taken seriously. 

• What if teachers had tools to spot early signs of distress, and the time to act on them?
• What if students had space to build emotional literacy, not just academic knowledge?
• What if schools didn’t wait for things to go wrong, but had systems in place to support wellbeing every day, for everyone?

That’s, actually not a distant dream anymore. 

At Spark Generation, we built our platform to meet this exact need. Not to replace teachers or schools, but to stand beside them and offer them support in:

• Identifying student struggles earlier
• Supporting teacher wellbeing without adding more to their plate
  Creating meaningful insights from student behaviour and feedback
  Equipping everyone in the school with tools for long-term emotional, academic, and future success

It’s not huge processes and complicated solutions. 

It’s a clear & simple framework that we’ve seen implemented, and it truly changes schools. From inside out. 

We’re actually working on a case study to show you the real numbers & impact this had in Transylvania College. If you would like to be notified about it when we launch it, you can sign up for our wellbeing-focused newsletter here. 👈

No spoilers but thanks to this wellbeing framework, the school has passed a handful of successful BSO Inspections, as well as being considered one of the top international schools in its regioin, valued by parents and students alike for their forward-thinking approach and their educational model that doesn’t just focus on grades, but on helping each student & teacher grow, with support and care. 

 

Let’s talk wellbeing 

If you would like to address the topic of wellbeing in schools with us, we’re currently talking to educators and school leaders from all over the world, trying to figure out what challenges they are dealing with and how we can support them in building schools where everyone can thrive.  

We’d love to hear from you as well, as we keep discovering new angles on this developing issue that our younger generations are facing. 

It’s both fascinating and scary. But it’s something that we believe needs to change. 

And if you know someone else who cares about wellbeing in education? Please pass this along.

Because this is a big challenge. And the more of us are working on it, the bigger the change we can create in our schools. For our kids and our next generations. 

 

 

 

 

FAQ: About the lack of wellbeing in schools

 

1: Why is student wellbeing a growing concern in schools?

1 in 5 children experience a mental disorder each year, and nearly half of all mental health conditions begin before age 14. Many students go unnoticed and unsupported while trying to cope silently.

2: How does social media impact students’ mental health?

Teens who spend over 3 hours a day on social media are more likely to face anxiety, depression, and poor sleep. It often leads to isolation, harmful content exposure, and emotional overload.

3: What’s the connection between teacher wellbeing and student success?

Burned-out teachers affect the entire classroom environment. When educators are overwhelmed, students feel the consequences—through less connection, support, and stability.

4: What does the series Adolescence reveal about schools today?

The show mirrors real-life challenges: disconnected teachers, emotional outbursts, and unaddressed student needs that can lead to tragic consequences. All signs of a system under pressure.

5: What kind of support do schools actually need?

Schools need structured, simple systems that catch early warning signs and offer real support for both students and teachers. That’s exactly what Spark Generation was built for: providing schools with a tool that makes wellbeing part of everyday school life, without adding extra pressure to the already overwhelmed staff or teachers.