CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH WEEK - MY THOUGHTS...

So the week starting 7th Feb 2022 is Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week- 7 days that is dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of positive mental health in children and young people. This year's theme is ‘growing together’ which is aimed at encouraging children (and adults) to consider how they have grown, and how they can help others to grow.

I personally think this is a fantastic initiative and a fantastic theme- I was actually asked by Emily Gearing- the founder of the fantastic Rest Easy Method- to provide my favourite quote and explanation of what it means to me in regards to growth and why I chose it. I chose:

“Monkey See, Monkey do…..what are your little monkeys seeing?”

Those who have been following me for a while or working with me will know that this quote is consistently all over my social media and my practice- but being asked to summarise why it is my favourite quote in regards to growth allowed me to summarise in the following way:

"Our little people are ALWAYS watching and learning from us- whether you are a practitioner, parent or both and whether we like it or not.

How we handle adversity, how we treat and speak to others, how we treat and speak to ourselves - the list goes on!

Therefore, it is our responsibility, as the adults around the children and young people, to continue our own personal journey of growth and learning so we can lead the way in supporting positive mental health and wellbeing personally and for all of those around us.

We are all in this together."

Writing this, and reflecting on the quote made me sit back and think even more about the upcoming ‘Children’s Mental Health Week’.

This concept, this awareness- why is it just a week?

Why, in this day and age, are we still having to raise awareness of the importance of mental health- not just in children and young people- but in EVERYBODY!?

The difficulties that people are having from ALL walks of life and the continuous rise in cases of ill mental health and suicide are well documented- so why on earth are we STILL having to raise awareness?

Shouldn't EVERY day, week and month be a focus on positive mental health and how we can create it in our everyday lives; in schools (for teachers and students), in work places, in sports academies, universities, amateur sports facilities, gyms…literally EVERYWHERE!

There are so many people and organisations doing so many amazing things to support positive mental health and wellbeing in the world, but I cannot see enough of it cascading from the top down.

Let's take schools for example- this year's Children’s Mental Health Week will mainly run in schools throughout the land- amazing-and I cannot applaud this enough. However, what happens the week after that, the month after that and so on?

With the best will in the world some schools may have taken some great tools and learning from the week but then the reality is that everyone will move on- back into the regimented and archaic education system that insists on our little people, and the professionals that support them in schools, being judged and assessed on their academic progress and results- how sad, but how true.

What I see on a daily basis is an education system that is so fast paced that it is hard for the Headteachers and Teachers to keep up, let alone the children and young people they are supporting. Then this creates an issue- and the issue is burn out and poor mental health all round.

Ok- not everyone is prone to this, but from my experiences in education so far, I am telling you that this problem is NOT easing off and it IS getting worse. Children's developmental needs socially and emotionally are needing more attention now than they ever have but the current system is not providing the time, funding or training to address these evolving needs.

With all of this in mind, lets just touch on specifically how technology is impacting children and young people’s mental health, and why this needs addressing in schools.

• The internet and gaming - exposure to content that is beyond the years of our children is forcing our children to mature quicker than their minds really should be in some ways- they cannot grasp some of the things they are seeing and hearing and it is confusing their emotions and distorting social situations. What is appropriate and what is not is becoming more and more of a grey area. Not so long ago, the idea of a 12 year old playing on a game that involves theft, assault and rape would have been completely absurd- but now, if you are completely honest, is it that shocking to many when you hear this is happening? I don’t believe so, but a 12 year old even knowing what these things are is becoming normal in our society - is it any wonder that their mental health is affected by this when we reflect on it?

• Social Media - so many strands to this fast moving juggernaut of modern day life; cyber bullying, body image issues, life comparisons, exposure to inappropriate content….the list is endless and the problems social media cause for young people in particular are not going away, and the users are getting younger and younger too. I am not against social media, I think a lot of good can come from it, but we have to stay relevant with our young people and educate them intensively to support their understanding of the negative impacts it can have.

• Mobile Phones - needless to say, conversations are becoming a thing of the past. Everybody sends messages these days, of course they do, it’s quicker and easier! However, there is now a generation of children and young people AND a generation of young adults that have never known life without this facility. It makes sense when you consider that this concept, in addition to the lack of need to socialise in person due to the ability to connect virtually, is impacting social skills massively.

When we look at all of the above, it makes complete sense that the social and emotional skills of our children are being negatively impacted and, in turn, so is their mental health.

My call is for change, we cannot stop evolution, but we can evolve with it in regards to reacting to the needs of our next generation. Lets change our education system, lets focus on social and emotional needs through tapping into children's personal skills and interests from an earlier age. I’m not saying that academic progress is not important, far from it, but I believe that if we can create a system that focuses on personal interests and strengths with the core subjects woven within, take pressure off the professionals in regards to the intensive results driven system and culture we currently have, then we will see an increase in positive mental health for children, young people and the professionals in education which will then create a ripple effect throughout society.

Back to my original point though, Children's Mental Health Week- what an amazing initiative- but please please please- let us make this unnecessary for the future by remaining focused on this all year through!

Much Love x