Identifying and Helping Students in Distress

There are a variety of signs that may indicate a student is in distress:

Academic: repeated tardiness/absences; deterioration in quality/quantity of work; exaggerated response to grades; repeated requests for special considerations; sudden changes in classroom behavior; disturbing content/references in writing assignments including suicide, trauma, violent or morbid content.

Physical/Psychological: poor hygiene; weight changes; sleeping in class; depressed or lethargic mood; restlessness; sad facial expression; incoherent speech; tearfulness; unusually animated; notably withdrawn; rapid mood shifts; odd social behaviors; incoherent speech; aggressive tone or behaviors; emotional outbursts; expressions of hopelessness; suicidal references; signs of alcohol or drugs.

Page last updated 12:09 PM, June 6, 2024