ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — May is Mental Health Awareness Month and the Orangeburg County School District is bringing attention to the resources available to its students.
“They’re only going two places for the most part. They’re leaving home, getting on the bus and they’re coming in our schools. The schools for a lot of those children are safe havens," said Orangeburg County School District mental health facilitator Joyce McDaniel Felder.
Felder says the district's students face a variety of issues affecting their mental health including anxiety, depression, and adjustment disorders. This has heightened during the pandemic with many students coping with the loss of their loved ones who died from COVID-related illnesses.
“Someone has had a death of a loved one and they feel as though their life doesn’t matter anymore because their loved one is gone and they wanna be with that particular person," said Felder.
She says it's been all hands on deck to provide support. The district is staffed with a team of mental health counselors assigned to its various schools. Training is offered to all of its staff throughout the year to help them identify the signs a child may need help.
According to Felder, a child's home environment plays a major role in their behavior at school.
“The mother is missing, that child is missing some nurturing. The father is something. That child is missing, especially a male, he’s missing his dad, he’s somebody who looks like him in the home he could talk to," said Felder.
They also facilitate conversations with students.
“Mental health is real. Mental health is not going any place so please reach out and talk to someone, call someone, have someone speak on your behalf but just go get the help because it’s out there.”
For more information about mental health resources available within the Orangeburg County School District, contact the district's mental health counselors: Joyce McDaniel-Felder (Joyce.Felder@ocsdsc.org or 803-496-3288) or Nakisha Randolph (Nakisha.Randolph@ocsdsc.org or 803-496-3288).