A new school year brings with it new possibilities of success for students across the country, but it also brings the chance of mental health struggles. Here are some ways that parents can monitor their child's mental health as they go back to school.
For parents concerned about how their kids are handling the new school year, here are five suggestions mental health experts say can help them monitor their child's mental health:Whether your student is starting pre-K or high school, there are many ways to be proactive. Martini says a lot of anxiety for students comes from the unknown, so help walk them through the steps — sometimes literally.
Athletics and arts programs can help, too. Even if students are nervous about the classroom, he says, getting them to pinpoint other aspects of school life that excite them can relieve the academic stress and provide outlets for students to express themselves.Asking questions is the best way to understand how students are doing. For older students especially, if you're only asking about the good things, you may not get the full picture.
For example, you might want to ask,"What isn't going well?" instead of,"Why aren't you enjoying [school]?'""One thing that can admittedly be challenging," Demers acknowledges, is that"a lot of the common signs of the onset of mental health symptoms are very much those of major transitions." For younger students, one of the most common warning signs is irritability with school or teachers, says the University of Utah's Martini. He notes that for younger students, irritability with teachers has been a recent trend in classrooms."Particularly when you're dealing with young children, there is a tendency to blame the school teachers and principals for some of the challenges they're having," he says.
While the past two years have been especially challenging, Lipson says not to belittle students' feelings by explaining them away with the pandemic. In an academic year featuring a push for normalcy, some students may not be ready to return to business as usual.