Anxiety, depression and family-related stressors are among the most common mental health issues that students in the area face, according to Terri Hamm, Director of Student Services for the Old Rochester Regional School District.

Now school officials are looking for ways to identify these and other problems,  improve care for students and track their progress over time.

Hamm said she is concerned that the stigma associated with seeking professional counseling may prevent parents and children from seeking help.

“This is something we are very concerned with,” Hamm said. “There’s a lot of information that people don’t have and the counselors would like to get that out there.”

Addressing the needs before they snowball is crucial.

For example, when students are feeling anxious, they may not even show up for school, Hamm said.

“How the students react to anxiety is with avoidance,” Hamm said.

“When that happens we can’t intervene, so we try to work on preventing that.”

On Wednesday, June 6, School Adjustment Counselors Charles West and Beth Martin discussed their plan to assist students with the Marion School Committee.

As mental health issues impact a student’s ability to learn, West said the need for both at-home and in-school care is crucial to their development.

Given the amount of time teachers spend with students in the classroom, they can play a significant role in identifying problems, West said.

“Even if they are going outside of the school for treatment, we still need to address that in the school system,” West said.

Once a student has been identified as having a need, the school counselors, teachers and parents can work with the student to overcome his or her issues and reduce obstacles to learning.

This could include regular sessions with the school counselors, monitoring the student’s progress and regularly following up with both the student and his or her parents, West said.

Laura Courage, Student Adjustment Counselor for Old Hammondtown School, agreed.

During a Monday, June 11 meeting with the Mattapoisett School Committee, Courage discussed creating a comfortable, non-judgmental environment for the students.

“I try to make it best practice that every student comes through my door,” she said.

“I’m in every classroom. The kids see me; they get to know me,” said Courage, who also joins kids on the playground.

“I’m in there with them, helping them manage those day-to-day conflicts they have, whether it’s discipline related, a social conflict or a mental health issue,” she said.

Students need to get the counseling they need now, so they know how to cope in the future, Courage said.

“I always believe that the best skills we can teach kids to move on is how to communicate better with each other. School is a dress rehearsal for work,” Courage said.

To help, the counselors will start by disseminating more information to parents.

For the first step of the district’s mental health initative, every student’s family will receive information in the fall on how to identify and assist a student with mental health.

Counselors will also hold workshops with school staff members on creating a more “positive school climate” to help alleviate some of the stressors for students.

Additionally, Hamm said she and the counselors will work with the school committees of Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester to develop a better system for keeping track of students’ mental health.

“We don’t collect systematic data on general education students,” said Hamm. “It’s important information, and it’s taken a while to get it put together.”