After 3 months of being home-schooled, only seeing their family, staying indoors and the highlight of their day being a walk; heading back into the colourful, busy classroom with 30 other children may seem a little daunting for our children.
I am going to discuss 3 main behaviours that may show up in your pupils which would indicate they are mentally struggling and how to support them.
- They may be more emotional than usual.
- They may be socially withdrawn.
- They may seem very tired with little energy.
Behaviours are visible. These are what we see. What we don’t see are the needs and the emotions behind the behaviour.
Here is an example:
Need: Love and affection
Emotion: Sadness, loneliness
Behaviour: sitting by themselves, not joining in with conversations, not playing with their friends on the playground.
As teachers we need to look for these behaviours as often, children…
a) won’t realise that they have a need or that something is wrong.
b) won’t speak to somebody about their situation – to them, because it is their only experience, they are not aware that it may not be ‘normal’ or ‘acceptable’.
c) they may only show these behaviours in ‘free’ time, for example at playtime when they are free to do as they please (within limitations). In the classroom, these behaviours may not be noticed (unless they were openly expressive children beforehand), we may assume that they are being quiet, well-behaved and getting on with their tasks.
Because of this, during the first couple of weeks back to school, it would be a good opportunity to give the pupils more ‘free’ time in which they can choose their own activities or give them group tasks so that you can observe their social interactions. This will also ease their transition back to school as they may struggle to concentrate for longer periods of time.
What is important with signs of poor mental health is that these behaviours are different to what is ‘normal’ for that child. We know that every child is different – some are naturally loud and excitable whilst others are naturally shy and reserved, but what we need to take notice of is if these are unusual for that specific child, no matter what the behaviour.
It is important to record any changes in behaviour for reference and to follow your school’s policies in supporting individual pupils and perhaps speaking to your Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator, whilst in the meantime, here are some effective ways that you can improve your class’ mental health.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70j3xyu7OGw&t=48s
I strongly suggest that the whole class should take part in these activities. Some children who are mentally struggling will not show any signs at all and their behaviour will appear to be the same. Other children may face challenges in a few weeks time and these techniques can help them in the future. Every body has a brain and every brain has health. It is sometimes good and sometimes poor. It is a moving scale. Everyone will face challenges in their lives. Everyone has emotions so everybody would benefit from these techniques.
When you try these with your class, let me know how they go down!
The Mindfulness Teacher 