According to Children’s Mental Health Ontario, one in five children under the age of 19 in Ontario has a mental health problem. This can be disruptive to a student’s ability to learn and could impact not only them but their peers as well. Mental health issues in students can lead to poor grades, poor behavior, and even dropping out.
It can be especially hard on students, with the endless talk about Covid-19. That said 1 great tip: find ways to keep Covid-19 out of your conversations and try to establish a new “normal” as much as possible. These are unprecedented times and students may feel hopeless and helpless as the pandemic is something that is out of their control. Keep things fresh and exciting, change up how you deliver content and how you interact with students, this can help increase your ability to engage and empower our young leaders.
We recommend you visit https://smho-smso.ca/emhc/, https://cmho.org/teacher-resources/, and https://mentalhealthliteracy.org/ for ideas on how to support students when it comes to mental health and practices you can implement to help build confidence, relationships, and self-awareness. Recognizing mental health issues early and being proactive in schools will help end the stigma about having a mental health issue and ensure students get the necessary help as soon as possible!
By Sunny Dhaliwal
