Thursday, March 28th, 2024

C Children First by Becky Adams
Children and Mental Health



CHILDREN AND MENTAL HEALTH




 The views on children’s mental health have changed in society and schools over the last five decades. There were no guidance counselors in Hampton Road elementary schools until 1989 when the Commonwealth of Virginia decreed that guidance counselors should be in all elementary schools. Chesapeake Public Schools decided three years earlier that they would set up a program to train some of their existing teachers for those guidance positions. They partnered with Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University to provide the courses necessary for the required certification and master’s degree. Twelve of those graduates began as guidance counselors in local elementary schools in the fall of 1989.



Over the years, the need for counselors has continued to grow as they provide assistance to individual students, small groups, and classroom guidance lessons. When the COVID pandemic began in 2020, schools were closed initially, with students studying virtually from home. Now that students and teachers are back in the classrooms, counselors can personally assist children in learning how to solve problems, troubleshoot situations, and redirect some of those negative feelings they have experienced.  

While the Virginia General Assembly has provided more funding for guidance counselors in recent budgets, what is the role of parents in enhancing the mental health of their children? Boys and girls learn how to handle difficult situations by watching their parents, teachers, and other adults in their lives. It is important for parents to work on their own mental health if they want to impact their children in a positive way. It is a normal response for parents to want to protect their children.

It is important for parents
to work on their own mental health
if they want to impact their children
in a positive way.

Today’s world presents parents with many challenges. One of those challenges for parents is deciding the age for allowing their children to have their own phones. On the one hand, a phone provides a sense of safety in case of emergencies. However, the unintended consequences come with exposure to the outside world through social media. Parents must have an understanding of the controls they put on those phones and be very much aware of how it impacts their children.

Parents need to provide balance in their young children’s lives. Outside activities are essential for a child’s physical and mental health. Such activities could include simply playing with friends in the backyard or participating in organized sports. In both settings, children learn how to work with a team, develop skills, take instructions from a leader, win and lose gracefully, and ask for help when needed. Parenting requires daily checking on your children’s mental health.

It is just as important for parents to perform a daily check on their own mental health. It’s good for the whole family.