Some cultures place so much emphasis on academic achievement that the students get overwhelmed by the burden, which takes a toll on their mental health. It is one thing to impose a robust curriculum in schools; it is another to overwork a child so much that it takes them downhill.
Parents and schools are equally responsible for the adverse impacts academic pressure can have on the well-being of students. Emotional turmoil is often part and parcel of academics, but school management is in a position to help the child cope with the stressors and emerge successful.
Emotional health is one of the things that receives less attention than it deserves. A school should not merely be a place where a child learns bookish knowledge; it should be a holistic platform for individual growth. The management and staff must invest in the child’s mental and emotional well-being.
The following are some tips to encourage better emotional health in schools:
1. Employ a licensed professional counselor
With the taboo around mental health, it has long been difficult to emphasize emotional well-being equally as physical health. Yes, it is also true that the past few years have seen some improvement, but we are still far from achieving a fraction of that equality.
Hiring a professional counselor in a school is as important as having nurses and individuals trained in first aid.
Unmet psychological needs only pose a threat to the student’s achievement. Employees with licensed professional counselor degrees can greatly benefit an educational institute. These professionals are uniquely equipped with ways they can help students overcome daily life challenges, identify warning signs for poor mental health and intervene in times, and offer short-term counseling.
2. Introduce Times For Mindfulness Breaks
More often than not, school schedules are so tightly packed that students don’t have time to take a break from the relentless cycle. This increases the risk of burnout and exhaustion and, in turn, affects performance.
Schedule the day so that there is at least one time when students do nothing but practice mindfulness. Mindfulness exercise is known to calm the mind and body, minimize stress impacts, and enable students to stay engaged and focused.
Another study reports that students who practiced mindfulness independently had better performance on tests and higher grades.
3. Offer Training In Coping Skills
Everyone faces setbacks in life at one point or another; it is how well you bounce back from them that matters. Stress, anxiety, sadness, frustration, and anger are all inevitable, but how you cope with them counts.
Introduce training sessions or extra classes – even if they have to be after-school – where students can learn positive self-talk, relaxation exercises, journaling, rational problem-solving, and emotional regulation.
Emotional regulation is the foundation of good mental health; the difference between one who falls into depression and one who resiliently bounces back after a major loss is how well they regulate their emotions.
To train your students in emotion management, teach them how to label their emotions accurately. Plan out all the coping strategies they can use in times of difficulty and allow them room for practice. Some coping techniques they should learn include relaxation exercises, deep breathing, positive coping statements, or even humor.
4. Introduce Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in the curriculum
Introducing healthy habits is best exercised through formal curriculum-based practices; SEL should be incorporated into every aspect of the school curriculum.
SEL exercises, as designed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, is a strategy that helps develop healthy identities, develop supportive relationships, manage emotions, express empathy, and achieve collective and personal goals.
You can introduce SEL by making students work on group projects, encouraging collaboration, and training them in conflict resolution. Self-help books can also be included in the school curriculum or given as homework.
5. Teach Students the ‘Circle Of Control’
Many times the things we are stressing out over are out of control and only create undue anxiety that we are not in the position to minimize. A ‘circle of control’ is a great way to let go of the things that are not in your control and focus your energies on those that are.
You can conduct a workshop with your students to help them draw their circle of control. For this activity, all they would need are paper and pencils. Begin by making them note down all the things they can control within the circle (e.g., their attitude, activities, preferences) and those that are out of their control outside of the circle.
This practice teaches them that worrying about things they cannot control is pointless and that plenty else needs their attention. They can focus their energies on self-improvement by letting go of unnecessary worries.
6. Set out ‘Social Time’
There is no better and more natural platform for students to develop emotional skills than a social setting. Such situations can teach what books cannot. Apart from academics, students should be given time when all they do is interact with their peers in interesting extracurricular activities.
Socializing teaches students emotional regulation; conflict is inevitable in any group, and when conflicts arise, they test their patience, emotion regulation, conflict management, and empathy.
Similarly, it provides an experimenting ground for developing healthy relationships and other life skills like decision-making, communication, critical thinking, stress management, and setting boundaries.
7. Celebrate ‘Mental Health Day’
The foundation of any program that works on the student’s emotional health is awareness; there is no better time than the world’s mental health day to work on this aspect of learning. World’s mental health day offers an opportunity to practice many exercises, organize activities, and attend workshops aimed at mental health awareness.
Occasionally, you can encourage students, teachers, and parents to express their feelings and share what they know. Inviting guest speakers is also a great idea. For this day, teachers can introduce mental-health-relevant topics into the lesson plan and give their students unique resources on global digital platforms.
Final Words
It is about time we break the stigma around mental health and treat it as equal to medical health. Schools are stressful, and the management should emphasize emotional well-being more. Every school should have a mental health counselor, introduce mindfulness breaks, offer training in coping skills, introduce SEL into the curriculum, and set out ‘social time.’ Education should not be based solely on bookish knowledge and should be as holistic as possible.
