Nearly a quarter of Minnesota students are struggling with mental health, behavior or emotional problems, according to a survey state leaders released Thursday.

In the 2019 Minnesota Student Survey, 23 percent of those surveyed reported struggling with those problems, up from 18 percent in 2016, the last time students were asked.

Overall, students questioned said they feel less engaged, supported and safe in the classroom, the survey found.

State leaders said one of the most troubling findings of the survey is the percentage of 11th-grade girls experiencing long-term mental, behavioral and emotion struggles has more than doubled since 2013. A quarter of female 11th graders reported missing school in the last month because they were sad, feeling hopeless, anxious, stressed or angry.

“Girls deserve to grow up seeing the boundless possibilities that lie before them — that so many are instead buried in stress and anxiety is unacceptable,” said Jodi Harpstead, state human services commissioner.

CHANCE TO HEAR MINNESOTA’S YOUTH

Minnesotans need to help students improve their lives outside of school in order for them to thrive academically and feel safe, Jan Malcolm, state health commissioner said. Students need better “sleep, exercise, nutrition, mindfulness” and “a safe, nurturing environment, and caring adults.”

“We must focus on helping Minnesota’s kids in and outside of schools by strengthening the ability of families and communities to give our children the connections, supports, stable environments, and opportunities they need for a sense of well-being about their lives and futures,” Malcolm said.

State leaders noted the survey found a strong relationship between students feeling like their teachers care about them and whether they’ve contemplated suicide. Students who felt their teachers didn’t care about them were twice as likely to consider suicide, the survey found.

“Our students are talking to us and we must listen,” said Mary Cathryn Ricker, Minnesota’s education commissioner. “No matter what is happening in students’ lives outside of school, we must make sure that they feel supported, safe, and welcomed when they’re in the classroom so they can succeed academically.”

Ricker added that she was working with other state leaders to improve school communities and make students feel safer in class.

TEACHERS SEEK MORE SUPPORT STAFF

Ursula Becker, a teacher at Highland Park Senior High School in St. Paul, said more support staff, such as counselors, social workers and mental health clinicians, would help educators address student challenges.

Minnesota continues to rank near the bottom of the states in the number of counselors available per student. State lawmakers have worked to increase funding for those positions, but teachers say much more is still needed.

“We just don’t have the staffing or infrastructure set up to properly help all students,” Becker said. She added that the counselors that schools do have on staff have an expanding number of responsibilities.

“They still do everything they used to do, plus a hundred other things,” she said. “I think more staffing is what everyone wants.”

Becker is a member of the St. Paul Federation of Educators, which launched a website, www.supportstpaulstudents.org, Thursday to help struggling students. More support staff is one issue union members are pushing district leaders to invest in.

SURVEY TAKEN EVERY THREE YEARS

The Minnesota Student Survey is given every three years to fifth, eighth, ninth and 11th graders.

About 80 percent of the state’s school districts participate.

Earlier this month, state leaders announced the survey had found a significant increase in students using electronic cigarettes. In contrast, other risky behaviors like drug use, drinking and sex have declined. Ricker has said the survey questions are designed to encourage students to be honest about what is happening with them and their school community.