Our own mental health is suffering after months of uncertainty and change. It's no surprise that many of our students are struggling, too.
Mental wellness matters during COVID-19
There is a growing need for mental health support for youth. From anxiety to depression, which can be compounded by issues like bullying, trauma, and lack of access to basic needs, 20 percent of children and adolescents will experience a mental health concern during their school years.
This year, that need is even more pressing. The pandemic has meant closed schools, financial insecurity, and a decrease in social connection — all things that uproot teens' lives. A recent survey found that in 2020 the proportion of teens age 11 to 17 who searched for help with mental health was up 9 percent.
At some point during an educator's career, the classroom and the relationship a teacher has with these young people can be a powerful force in helping them feel safe and important, and to provide the one stable place in their lives. But not all teachers know exactly what to do, or how to do it, in order to help support these students.
Understand Unique Challenges
Like most kids, students don't want to be singled out. Teachers should understand that the lives of youth aren't like most average students — they're pulled in a million different directions, so it's difficult for them to just jump into a new classroom and feel a part of it all.
Teachers can make the classroom feel like an open environment. Letting the entire class know it's a safe place where students can come if they need to talk goes a long way toward opening the discussion for those much-needed mental health check-ins.
Make mental health part of the daily check-in
Teachers are in an important position to support students' mental health. It can be as simple as helping students see the connection between their mental health and academics, and being available for students when they need it — not just during classroom talks.
Thoughts, behaviours, and emotions influence each other in positive and negative ways. Helping students identify when they or a peer may need help, how to get help, and what to expect when seeking treatment gives them strategies to turn a negative cycle into a positive one.
Self-Awareness
Self-awareness is the ability to see yourself clearly and objectively through reflection and introspection. While it may not be possible to attain total objectivity about oneself, there are certainly degrees of self-awareness — it exists on a spectrum.
Self-Management
Self-management is about preparing for the future, owning your present, and taking care in what you do — as well as learning how you could do better next time. It's a really important way to grow as a person, not just in the workplace. From managing your time to prioritising tasks, being organised will help improve both employability and daily life.
Self-management skills in school and education include: showing initiative by starting a project or activity on your own; volunteering for charity events and contributing ideas or skills; building teamwork skills on group projects while also learning from others; getting homework out of the way to stay stress-free; keeping a secure timetable to attend classes on time; making lists and study notes in advance to keep to a revision schedule; and breaking big chunks of revision into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
Relationship Skills
Most of us aren't relationship experts — we make mistakes, and our relationships subsequently suffer. In every relationship, whether with significant others, friends, or family, there are expectations and standards that must be met to maintain healthy, loving bonds. Mental health professionals point to eight keys to doing this: honesty, self-awareness, understanding, empathy, support, time, open-mindedness, and shared experiences.
Social Awareness
Social awareness is the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behaviour, and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports. It's a crucial component of appropriate classroom behaviour and is widely established as an important factor in workforce success — professionalism, collaboration, communication, and social responsibility are all linked to it.
Why This Matters
Social awareness contributes to better behaviour and achievement in school: students with strong social awareness adapt more easily to their environment, empathize with others' perspectives, and engage in fewer disruptive classroom behaviours — creating an environment where everyone can focus on learning. Students with strong social awareness also build better relationships, engaging in constructive communication and resolving conflicts, and are less prone to emotional distress and risky behaviours.
Responsible Decision-Making
Responsible decision-making is the ability to make constructive choices about personal behaviour and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms. Students develop this by learning to identify a problem, analyze the situation from a variety of angles, work through possible solutions and their consequences, consider ethical responsibility, and finally evaluate and reflect on what happened.
Physical Activity
Physical activity during school and college years can have a big positive impact for the rest of a student's life. Aim for a level you're comfortable with at the start — even ten minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity makes a difference, and the benefits increase as the habit grows. A good target is two and a half hours of vigorous activity, or five hours of moderate activity, spread across the week. Proper nutrition and simple stretching before and after exercise round out a safe, sustainable routine.