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Teachers that shape minds
Words Aisha Kamara
A teacher or an educator takes on an important role of having the ability to motivate and inspire young children and also pour out patience and dedication to deal with challenging behaviours. It is often assumed that teachers that educate young children just have the responsibility to create schemes and lessons in accordance with the national curriculum. However, teachers do take up the role of shaping a young child’s mind to ensure positive mental health.
It is has been discovered that many schoolchildren are struggling to deal with their mental health and more than 1 in 10 children find it difficult to express how they feel in most cases due to not having one to talk to. Mental health accounts for 16% of the global burden in people at the starting age of 10 and in England research has shown that 14% of primary school children have mental health conditions. What is interesting is that 75% of children who experience mental health are not getting the full substantial help they need. In a school setting, it should be known to educators that emotional wellbeing is just as important because a positive mind will aid children to develop more resilience in life.
There are many risk factors that can contribute to schoolchildren experiencing negative mental health. A young child can encounter emotional difficulties in school such as feeling strained by schoolwork, a child feeling that their teacher is not fond of them, a child experiencing bullying or prejudice, or a child that only has a few or no friends. These emotional difficulties can affect a child’s development in school and affect their mental health long term. In addition children that come from a low socio-economic background, bad peer relationships, or a negative neighbourhood environment are also factors that can lead to children experiencing negative mind health. It is argued that teachers should involve positive protective factors in pupils such as positive physical development and opportunities for engagement in schools can be helpful. Building positive norms and supportive relationships with family members and developing social-emotional skills such as problem solving and coping with stress are also positive factors that can help a young child with their mental health.
Promoting good mental health and wellbeing among schools heavily relies on teachers as children spend most of their time in school which gives a great opportunity for teachers to help them build a positive mindset. Strengthening their capability to control emotions, enhance alternatives to risk-taking behaviours, build resilience for challenging situations and promote supportive social environments are all things that teachers should implement within young children in a school environment. It takes a teacher with compassion to ensure that pupils have the right social and emotional skills as children will be able to form positive relationships, deal effectively with conflicts, make responsible decisions about personal and social behaviour and also build self awareness. Social and emotional skills should be enforced in school curriculums such as creating health and wellbeing programmes or create activities that allows children to practice these skills. Furthermore, it is also important for teachers to encourage children to express themselves and speak about their feelings as it will not only benefit their mental health but also their ability to learn effectively.
It has been evident that individual refrain from talking to children about mental health however, I do believe that teachers should enforce speaking to children about mental health as they will gain a better understanding. This for example can be integrated in a classroom discussion which can help teachers understand each pupil about their perspective of mental health and wellbeing. There are interventions that are also integrated in schools which in some cases can be effective however, teachers creating their own activities can be believed to be more effective. There are number of organisations that do focus on the mind of young children outside of schools where parents can also be involved in. On the other hand what do teachers do when they notice that there are some pupils that are showing signs of negative mental health? Well the best way for teachers to respond to such is raising their concerns as soon as possible, this can be effective as children that do have an identifiable mental health condition can be supported the right way from teachers.
It has been shown that teachers or educators can bring a positive impact to young children by teaching them the fundamentals of having a positive mental health. Although the prevalence in young children mental health is rising, many teachers should continue to influence young children to have a positive mindset. I am firm believer in positive impact in an individual life and it will benefit many young children future. Teachers having the ability to inspire through teaching really do shape young minds despite them being stretched for time and having many workloads, they have a beautiful opportunity to improve a young child mental health.