The challenge: Protecting students' emotional wellbeing
No secret: Life is stressful for students and teachers alike. The pandemic separated kids from their friends and the return to school required them to learn social skills all over again. Each day we witness anger and violence in our society, both in person and on TV. Social media foster feelings of inadequacy. Students tend not to talk about it.
We need simple ways to restore communication between students and teachers without taking time out of the busy school day.
Teachers are some of the kindest and most upbeat people I meet. I wonder if it becomes a habit when you spend so much time helping kids navigate difficult experiences.
- Steve Herbst, founder and developer of nonprofit Topical Storm
When the pandemic began and learning went virtual, many kids became dispirited. They missed being with their friends and it was frustrating trying to do all their learning over the internet. Then when schools reopened, many of these same kids had forgotten how to relate to others in person and missed having the direct connection with their teacher that the online environment had given them.
The “mental health crisis” that journalists write about is real for many students. Yes, life is always one “crisis” after another and we get used to it. But this one affects some of us deeply. And there are things we can do.
Pain Point 1
Our kids are hurting and we've
got to start catching it earlier.
By 2018, well before the pandemic, children were already suffering from "declines in happiness, life satisfaction, and flourishing, and increases in loneliness, anxiety, depressive symptoms, major depressive episodes in the past year, hospital admissions for self‐harm behaviors, suicidal ideation, self‐harm and suicide attempts via poisoning". (Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice Vol.1 #1)
"In 2018-2019, about 15% of adolescents ages 12-17 years had a major depressive episode, 37% had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and nearly 20% reported that they seriously considered suicide." (National Center for Biotechnology Information)
And from a 2023 study at Cornell: "In recent years, there has been a significant increase in anxiety among children and teenagers. Factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the pervasive influence of social media have contributed to heightened anxiety levels among the youth in America."
Pain Point 2
Teachers want to help their students but often lack the support to do so.
According to EdWeek, "teachers’ donation requests for supplies to help students develop their social-emotional learning skills have almost doubled since 2020" (EdWeek - Barriers to Effective SEL), indicating that more and more educators are concerned about their students' emotional needs and maturity and want to equip them with better coping tools.
EdWeek states that 79% of the 1,386 survey takers reported that there were too few supports within the school system.
Pain Point 3
Teachers are overburdened and
have extremely limited time.
Teachers are also quitting in droves, with many citing excessive paperwork and added responsibilities as major reasons for leaving. This in turn leaves "the survivors," as Forbes puts it, to be burdened by administration with more and more meetings, commitments, pressure, and paperwork. Teachers "have less and less time to forge a human connection with students, without which many students are struggling ". Teachers want to teach, not be typists glued to lengthy reports, assessments, and other forms of needless bureaucracy. In short, "Education as a system is killing the survivors" (Forbes - Teacher Burnout).
NEXT: How to address this crisis? One small part of the solution is the Morning Check-In app.
