A den is supposed to be a retreat from the chaotic world outside, a homey safe space. That was CHS’s intention when it created the Wednesday “Wolf Den,” a 30-minute period where students discuss mental health before returning to asynchronous instruction for the rest of the day. However, Wolf Den so far has not met that goal; in fact, it has had the opposite effect on many overwhelmed students. It feels like the district is doing the bare minimum to check a legal tickbox—since the state requires attendance five days a week—rather than actually caring about the wellbeing of its students.

The primary issue is that students only meet with their teachers for 30 minutes once a week, which is not enough time to develop a relationship in which they feel comfortable sharing details about their personal lives. It is unrealistic to expect students to be able to open up out of nowhere, especially when some of them do not even have those teachers in other classes. They are being asked to confide in complete strangers. The entire 30-minute period is spent on an app called Nearpod, which asks students questions about their wellbeing. For example, one frequently asked question is, “What is closest to your mood and energy level right now?” Students must select one of the following answers: “Calm and sad, energetic and happy, energetic and frustrated, neutral.” Surveying students of such basic emotions—on a screen—while teachers make no attempt to actively and reflectively listen and connect, does not feel far from talking to a brick wall. Teachers do not make an attempt to connect with students whatsoever. Moreover, the answers are not always anonymous, which takes away any incentive on the students’ part to be honest. Another failure of the app approach is that students are asked to list coping mechanisms they already use when feeling overwhelmed or having a mentally exhausting day, as opposed to being taught skills they can genuinely use in the future.

On the rare occasion that the teachers do choose to share advice, it is extremely generic. For example, students will be told to “go for a run,” “take five deep breaths,” or “take a drink of water.” While these remedies can be helpful, they come off as a little trite and do not go very far when the workload of the student still remains the same. It often feels like walking into a school nurse’s office after throwing up in the bathroom only to be handed an ice pack and sent back to class.

This is not to blame the teachers; they are admirably trying to help. However, they do not have nor should it be expected for them to have the proper training or counseling credentials to help each student in an authentic way. In fact, it must be straining for the teachers to be expected to administer to students’ psychological needs in addition to their intellectual needs. The school has emotional guidance counselors available for those needs. Even a quick Google search for “how not to be stressed” seems somewhat more effective than sitting on Nearpod for 30 minutes.

Although Wednesday is a day of asynchronous activity, and a break from the ongoing Zoom cycle, it is still a rather chaotic day where students are flooded with work. It seems that everyone would be better off with another 30 minutes of sleep or work time. Wolf Den seems to create another alarm to wake up to, and another screen to blankly stare at. It adds to an already lengthy to-do list.

Gratitude is certainly due to the teachers for making any attempt to check in on and help students through what is such a trying time. They are just complying with the school’s rules, trying their best to adapt to unpleasant circumstances, and taking on a responsibility that they did not carry before. However, the way Wolf Den has played out, all things considered, in the past six weeks has felt forced and shallow, which in the end prevents students from genuinely opening up and feeling any kind of relief.