Key points:

• Varied mental health supports can help students to become stakeholders in their well-being
• Empowering staff and students with a sense of belonging
• Schools are key to solving mental health equity gaps
• For more news on student mental health, visit eSN’s SEL & Well-Being hub

Between March 2020 and March 2021, K-12 schools in the U.S. saw an unprecedented influx in federal government aid, totaling nearly $190 billion. This funding aimed to help students recover both academically and emotionally from the pandemic. School districts across the country utilized these grants to hire counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other care providers. In theory, this should have been transformative; however, the available workforce wasn’t large enough to meet the demand, and traditionally underserved and rural districts faced the brunt of this shortage.

Subsequent follow-up funding has been deployed by the federal government in a necessary step to increase the workforce of care providers. As these funding opportunities come to a close, many districts are still left struggling to adequately address their students’ mental health needs.

According to the CDC, more than one in three high school students experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, but in reality, the rate of U.S. students struggling with these challenges was rising even before COVID. The pandemic’s disruption to students’ schooling and development only exacerbated mental health issues, resulting in worsening anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues. As funds such as ESSER come to a close, schools that were able to increase care teams or introduce new mental well-being initiatives are now facing a funding cliff. The impact of this is predictable: Students will suffer as staff and programs are cut. To address this problem, the U.S. education system must look to alternative solutions.

Expanding beyond traditional approaches

Counselors, social workers, and school psychologists are the most impactful front-line resources available for supporting student mental well-being; however, these professionals are saddled with huge caseloads and demands beyond their normal purview. For example, according to a 2020 survey of 7,000 school counselors, many were required to serve as substitute teachers, perform temperature checks, and take on other tasks as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. To improve mental health support to students, we have to expand our narrow perception of what care can look like.

Looking beyond a traditional western medicine approach, school districts should consider adopting solutions such as peer-to-peer counseling, where students who have been trained can meet to support one another and address personal, social, or emotional challenges. Peer-to-peer counseling empowers students to become stakeholders in their mental health while also providing benefits such as cultural relevance, early intervention, crisis prevention, and social-emotional skill development. This effective strategy is strongly advocated for by California’s Children Trust, which has worked tirelessly over the past few years to make peer-to-peer support reimbursable for California schools through Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.

Additionally, utilizing a community-based collaborative care model can further bolster a school system’s mental health resources. This type of approach is not meant to replace the role of trained mental health professionals, but it can provide Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Tier 1 and 2 for large student populations. An effective initiative of this kind may look like inviting vetted community leaders to come in and offer culturally-tailored support, a resource that’s frequently lacking in schools. When coupled with other solutions, community-based care approaches can play a central role in improving student mental well-being.

Embracing technology

While in-person methods such as professional counseling, peer-to-peer programs, and community-based collaborative care models present a range of benefits, an immediate and ready solution exists for K-12 to effectively close the gaps in its mental health resources: digital mental health products.

Technology is accessible and readily complements care providers, and dozens of culturally competent and evidence-based products are successfully being utilized in school districts. These digital products can complement in-school care providers with treatment plans and access to telehealth, assessment tools, screening, tracking, and preventative technologies, which provide education, awareness, peer support, and other non-clinical approaches.

While effective technology solutions exist, the majority of schools face barriers to adopting and utilizing them. Figuring out how to fund product implementation, choosing which products to trust, and understanding exactly what types of student mental health concerns need to be addressed are common obstacles voiced by school systems.

Proper resource allocation can help ensure a brighter future

While there are currently several mental health-focused technology products available, investment for these types of innovations is still lacking. With federal funding drying up, large VC-backed companies that haven’t previously worked in the education sector are beginning to enter the scene, and oftentimes, these companies are driven by interests that don’t meet the needs of the students they are meant to be serving.

The key to supporting school systems, and ultimately students, is to harness the power of culturally-competent and age-appropriate solutions that entrepreneurs with lived experiences are developing while also supporting school systems by helping them identify, adopt, and utilize these transformative products.

Key points:

• Sensory spaces help students practice self-regulation
• See also: Schools are key to solving mental health equity gaps
• See also: Technology as a bridge–not a shortcut–to student relationships
• For more news on SEL, visit eSN’s SEL & Well-Being page

Since COVID, many schools across the country have been investing ESSER funds into sensory spaces. The availability of this funding, along with the complex trauma issues brought on by the pandemic–including social isolation, depression and generalized anxiety–have prompted educators to increase their focus on the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) to address all students’ needs. As 2023 winds down, it is important to note this trend and its origins from use primarily in special education to the current, continuing shift towards universal design and inclusion.

What is a sensory space?

A sensory space is a designated area or room that is designed to help students practice and integrate the concepts of self-regulation or self- management using sensory and other tools.  From a small corner to a full room, sensory spaces are increasingly being implemented in schools, homes, business, and public places such as stadiums and airports.

In schools, sensory spaces have traditionally been used by students with special needs, such as those on the autism spectrum or those with severe/profound cognitive, intellectual, and/or motor disabilities. Often referred to as Multi-Sensory Environments, these spaces were designed to support the development of cognitive, motor, social and self-regulation skills with options to individualize and customize activities specifically for each student.

Some elements of the room can even be aligned to instruction. If the whole class is working on an astronomy lesson, for example, the multisensory environment could include a projector that the user could turn on to view images of stars, planets, or a panorama of a galaxy overhead.

How are sensory spaces changing?

During the pandemic, and now beyond, sensory spaces have morphed from being used with just those with special needs to more inclusive environments that support all students as part of universal design for learning. As an occupational therapist with training in sensory integration, I, along with my colleagues, know that we have many students, not just those with special needs, who may be overly sensitive to touch, movement, sights, and sounds, or have other sensory processing challenges.

This may be applicable to students with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that now can include the complex trauma and side effects from the pandemic. A trauma response, whether from neglect, abuse, food scarcity, loss of a parent/caregiver, divorce, etc., may sometimes mimic a sensory processing challenge. With this cycle, the fight, flight, or freeze response kicks in if students become overwhelmed by daily stressors and thus the meltdowns, aggression, withdrawal, or other behavior dysregulation issues may ensue. Creating a sensory calming space may help support self-regulation and self-management to prevent this escalation. When used as part of a daily routine, and not as reward or punishment, these sensory breaks may make a profound difference in helping students make it through the school day while teaching them to intrinsically learn and advocate for their sensory needs.

Since COVID, I have also seen an uptick in schools that are creating quiet sensory spaces for their educational staff. A revamped teacher’s lounge might now include a bubble wall for calming visual and auditory input, a massage chair and/or a weighted blanket for deep touch pressure input, and some fidgets or other sensory tools. Just like our students, teachers need to be mindful and practice taking regular sensory breaks.

Some students may need movement to help with self-regulation. Research has shown that physical activity helps support focus, attention, and emotional regulation. Yet many students today do not get enough movement because of decreased recess time, reduction in required physical education minutes, and removal of playground equipment. Sensory spaces that incorporate movement input (what we term “wiggle rooms”) may help students who need this additional input and can include sensory tools such as a mini trampoline, a swing, or a scooter board obstacle course.

Building your own sensory space

As an OT, I always ask the question, “What does a sensory space look like for you?”  Defining the needs and goals of the space helps determine equipment and next steps. A quiet space will look different than a wiggle space, for example, and will require different elements to incorporate. Look at sensory preferences such as:

• Visual input such as bubble tubes, light cubes, twinkle lights, fiber optic lighting, visual projectors, or still images;
• Auditory input such as music or vibroacoustic pieces (speakers are built into the furniture for sound and vibration), a white noise machine, or noise-canceling headphones;
• Deep touch pressure or heavy work input tools such as a bean bag chair (or other furniture that conforms around the child for spatial boundary definition), a crash mat, a weighted lap pad, or stuffed animal;
•  Movement input such as a rocking chair, linear swing, or fidget tools for the hands; and
• Olfactory or smell input such as the use of essential oils/aromatherapy. (Note:  Avoiding chemical and/or synthetics such as commercial air fresheners, perfume, and lotions is also just as important!).

If budgets are an issue, creativity and resourcefulness are better long-term allies in creating a sensory space than buying what is the least expensive. Many children, especially those who are considered sensory seekers, can be extremely hard on furniture and supplies because of modulation issues with poor registration of the senses. These students may want to swing or spin excessively, climb on furniture, crash into other objects/people, or squeeze the glue bottle too hard! Providing more durable movement, deep touch pressure, and fidget tools will be well worth the extra expense.

For justification and/or to build awareness, social media is a wonderful place to browse. There are so many private and public spaces posting about supporting neurodiverse learners and creating more sensory friendly environments.

My hope as an OT is that the COVID pandemic may have helped bring about more awareness and accelerate the shift in understanding the importance of SEL. All students need to learn to self-regulate to feel calm and safe, which is a perquisite for learning. Creating a supportive sensory space is one more tool in ensuring student success.

Key points:

• Rural students face poverty, inequities, and challenges related to well-being
• Many rural areas continue to lack basic internet access
• See related article: Technology in rural schools: Addressing digital equity
• For more news on student populations, visit eSN’s SEL & Well-Being page

Many rural communities are still facing multiple crises in educational loss, economic outcomes, unemployment, and mental health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Why Rural Matters 2023 report.

The report examines the needs and inequities affecting 9.5 million students attending public schools in rural areas – more than one in five students nationally. The report critically examines how educational supports and resources for rural student well-being are distributed.

Any issue impacting rural families and communities also affects rural children, including all aspects of education, mental health, and physical well-being.

“For more than 20 years, the Why Rural Matters series of reports has been the go-to resource for policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and others who want to understand the contexts and conditions of rural education in the 50 states,” said Dr. Jerry Johnson of East Carolina University, researcher, and co-author of the Why Rural Matters report.

“The Why Rural Matters report arms NREA state leaders, legislators, and communities with the information and data needed to take action in their state capitals, advocating for the needs of rural students and highlighting strengths in rural schools,” said Allen Pratt, Executive Director, National Rural Education Association (NREA).

Key findings include:

Rural schools

• At least half of public schools were rural in 13 states.
• At least one third of public schools were rural in 14 states.
• Roughly half of all rural students attended school in 10 states.

Access to school counselors and psychologists

• Rural school districts averaged 310 students served by one school counselor or psychologist compared to a 295 to 1 ratio in non-rural districts.
• Seven states had rural districts with ratios worse than 400 to 1 (Minnesota, California, Mississippi, Alaska, Louisiana, Indiana, and Michigan).
• Rural Michigan children had the highest ratio of an average of 574 students to every psychologist or school counselor.

Most rural gifted and talented programs demonstrate gender equity

• Nationally, more than half of students in gifted and talented programs in rural districts were female. Rural Rhode Island had the highest percent of females in gifted and talented programs at 62.4 percent. However, variations across states showed more work is needed.
• In three states, females’ participation in rural school gifted programs is at least eight percentage points lower than that of males: Alaska (40.0 percent vs. 60.0 percent), New Hampshire (45.4 percent vs. 54.6 percent), and Wyoming (45.7 percent vs. 54.3 percent). And females were heavily underrepresented in rural gifted math programs and math competitions.
• More pressing than gender equity was the absence of gifted and talented programs in some rural schools. Of the 24,736 public rural schools in the US, 10,071 (40.7 percent) appeared not to offer any program specific to gifted students.

More gifted and talented program access needed for Black and Hispanic students in rural districts

• Despite 17.1 percent of students in rural schools identifying as Hispanic, only 9.1 percent of the students in the gifted programs at these same schools were Hispanic.
• Similarly, 10.6 percent of the rural school population identified as Black, but only 5.2 percent of the gifted student population in rural schools was Black.
• In contrast, 64.8 percent of rural students were White, but 77.4 percent of the rural students enrolled in gifted programs were White.

Additional themes found in the report include:

• Rural areas appear to offset some of the impact of poverty on educational outcomes.
• Many rural areas continue to lack basic internet access.
• Students in rural school districts are more likely to graduate high school than their non-rural counterparts.

The Rural School and Community Trust produced the first Why Rural Matters report in 1999. Research and publication of the report transitioned to the NREA in 2023.

“Working in some of the poorest, most challenging places, the Rural School and Community Trust involves young people in learning linked to their communities, improves the quality of teaching and school leadership, and advocates in a variety of ways for appropriate state and federal educational policies, including efforts to ensure equitable and adequate resources for rural schools,” said Robert Mahaffey, Executive Director of the Rural School and Community Trust, a national nonprofit addressing the crucial relationship between good schools and thriving communities.

More students attend rural schools than attend the 100 largest U.S. school districts combined. Nearly one in seven rural students experiences poverty, one in 15 lacks health insurance, and one in 10 has changed residence in the previous 12 months. The issues impacting rural families and communities extend to rural children. This larger picture signals the importance of including all aspects of students’ mental, emotional, and physical well-being in the national discourse. 

Yet, rural schools and students often seem invisible because many policymakers lack personal experience in rural schools and have not yet developed a complete understanding of the spatial inequities faced by rural communities. Spatial and educational equity is conceptualized in two ways in the National Rural Education Research Agenda: 1) spatial inequity, or how equity challenges are related to place, and 2) how equity, or rather, inequity relates to diverse identities and social circumstances present within the rural school and community.

After years of measuring racial diversity through the inadequate lens of “White and non-White,” the researchers used the rural diversity index begun in the 2019 Why Rural Matters report. The index shows that when randomly choosing two students from a school in a rural district in the United States, there would be about a one-in-three chance that the students would identify as being from different racial/ethnic backgrounds. The most recent statistics describing that likelihood is 33.4 percent in 2023, up from 31.9 percent in the 2019 report, underscoring the steadily diversifying landscape of the rural United States. Additional key findings of the report are as follows:

Across 50 states, rural districts receive a disproportionately larger share of school funding because of the higher relative costs of running rural schools. Fourteen states, however, provided disproportionately less funding to rural districts: Nebraska had the most significant disparity, followed by Vermont, Rhode Island, Iowa, Delaware, South Dakota, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. 

Why Rural Matters was published by the NREA and its partners to examine how educational supports and resources for student well-being are being distributed, casting light on which rural children are most in need of additional support. The report provides a state-by-state look at a range of factors that affect rural students’ education. It was distributed today at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education (NFARE) conference and posted on the NREA website, including data on the condition of rural education in each state.

This press release originally appeared online.

Key points:

• When students feel supported, they’re more likely to share their struggles
• Mental health partnerships can better support students and staff
• See related article: How to build relationships with students
• Get the latest news on student and staff well-being by visiting eSN’s SEL & Well-Being page

Belonging is a fundamental human need. We are all searching for a sense of connection with the people and places in our lives. Students and school staff are no different, so it’s crucial to ensure learning environments foster a sense of belonging.

When students have a strong sense of belonging, they are more likely to be engaged in school and to perform well academically. Unfortunately, new data shows that only 62 percent of high school students feel connected to others at school, and nearly one-third of students experience poor mental health.

In addition, the latest federal data found that 33 percent of school leaders noticed an uptick in violence amongst students and students experiencing anxiety and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder over the last year–many attribute the increase to the pandemic and its lingering effects. There’s simply no time to waste; we must make our schools welcoming, safe spaces for students and staff alike.

Build trusting relationships with students to create a culture of belonging

Trust is the cornerstone of belonging. Students need us to be accessible, dependable, and trustworthy. When students trust us, they’ll be more willing to be honest about their struggles and help us stay in tune with what’s happening in the halls that we don’t see.

Celebrate student backgrounds and cultures

Celebrating cultures is more than just hosting an event; it’s about consistently honoring the ethnicity, background, and experiences of the students we serve. By recognizing the diverse backgrounds and cultural traditions of the school’s communities, we create avenues for students to share and celebrate their experiences openly.

Encouraging open dialogue and allowing students to lead discussions about their cultures fosters a climate of true inclusivity.  Celebrating and embracing students’ lived experiences greatly increases students’–and their family’s–feelings of belonging.

Engage the community as a partner

Schools that focus on belonging recognize the power of community engagement. For example, when a community member talks openly about a challenging topic, such as their family’s experience with substance abuse, it can create a sense of belonging and validation for students coping with a similar situation.  School advisory councils that involve students, families, and staff as decision-makers influence school operations and bridge the gap between students and their communities.

Empower school counselors through collaborative partnerships

Relationships take time to foster. Students need to be seen, and staff need the time to truly see them. When staff are overburdened, as many are nationwide, it hinders their ability to build meaningful relationships with students. And when a student needs care outside of the scope of school resources, staff are often tasked with finding the care they need. On average, it takes up to 60 phone calls to connect a student, family member, or staff member to the proper mental health resources.

That’s where partners providing mental health care coordination services come into play. Collaborations like this can alleviate the burden on school staff and save them countless hours of tedious work. What’s more, a third-party partner can also provide mental health support to school staff. School staff are the backbone of a school community, and their mental health and well-being are essential to a thriving school culture.

After a prolonged period of disconnection, building strong relationships is more important than ever. Dr. Bruce Perry, in his book The Boy Who Was Raised As a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook says, “Relationships are the agents of change and the most powerful therapy is human love. People, not programs, change people.” As you reflect on the practices in your school community, remember that the trusting relationships we cultivate with students and staff members are the most powerful tool we have to create the sense of belonging.

About Sarah Mathew

Key points:

• Students’ mental health concerns are at an all-time high–but access to resources is severely lacking
• Equitable access to mental health resources drives academic performance and success
• See related article: Effective SEL instruction isn’t possible without this key element

Kids are facing a crisis unlike anything the U.S. has ever seen as young people face staggering rates of anxiety, depression and suicide. While there isn’t one clear cause as to why this is the case—there has been a lot of unrest over the past several years—it’s essential that our systemic approach to mental health support shifts with these unprecedented times.

Equity gaps often prevent youths from accessing the care they need. It’s been reported that even before COVID-19, 1 in 5 children had a treatable mental health diagnosis but only about 20 percent received care from a provider. For many young people, living without addressing these underlying mental health challenges transcends into other areas of their lives—including academics and social behavior. These critical services must be accessible where kids spend the majority of their time: school. 

The National School Lunch Program was established in the 1940’s to combat hunger and improve childhood nutrition by ensuring that every child who needed meals could have them at school. Declining mental health is the national health crisis of this generation and our schools must act.

Our public schools are uniquely positioned to solve three major equity gaps in youth mental health: financial barriers, cultural barriers, and geographical access to care amid a shortage of mental health professionals. Schools can unlock the potential of young people, of all backgrounds, when they have equal access to the resources they desperately need.

Reaching geographical resource deserts

Mental health resource “deserts” in certain rural areas of the country make it difficult for young people to access care. In fact, an astounding 75 percent of rural counties across the country have no mental health providers or fewer than 50 per 100,000 people. The lack of funding and presence of care providers, paired with the national drought of mental health professionals, has only worsened youth complications as many are unable to address issues before they lead to more severe, life-threatening events. 

Thousands of school districts have addressed this by leveraging technology to improve access to qualified mental health professionals through teletherapy. It allows thousands of students per year–with all kinds of needs backgrounds–to more easily access culturally relevant and experienced clinicians that can help each student based on their unique needs. It also allows them to meet whenever and wherever is most convenient, and have a program that’s designed specifically for them.

Making care affordable for families

During this time of economic turbulence, many parents have lost their jobs (six million Americans were unemployed as of June 2023), forcing them to live on a tighter budget. There are a rising number of families who are living without health insurance and the high out-of-pocket costs of therapy often prevents families from seeking out services.

Schools have helped to play a major role in overcoming financial barriers and supporting affordability for families to access mental health support. However, heightened demand has surpassed what most schools are able to handle and in-school teams, like school counselors, are dwindling. And, with so many counselors leaving their positions, those remaining have increasingly limited bandwidth and are forced to direct their attention towards the most severe crises. This often leaves kids with mild to moderate needs without adequate support. In order to fulfill the needs, schools must integrate outside mental health services.

Adapting for cultural intersectionalities

Student populations are more diverse than ever, with families accustomed to different cultural and social norms. Some cultures are more open or communicative about mental health while others aren’t comfortable discussing these topics at home—which perpetuates the stigma around mental health. This stigma still remains a major barrier for youths to receive or seek out care. Over half (52 percent) of educators say that students and/or their families are not asking for help because of the stigma associated with mental health problems. 

Schools can help families overcome this by incorporating inclusive, culturally competent care and mental health education within their programs. With more knowledge around mental health care, families can better identify, understand and respond to the unique needs of their child. For families where existing stigmas are a challenge, young people often benefit from seeing clinicians who can relate to their diverse backgrounds. This can be especially impactful for students who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, low income, live in rural areas, are experiencing homelessness, and/or come from immigrant households. For families who’ve sought care, nearly half have cited difficulty in finding a therapist that their child can relate to. Schools that work with outside mental health professionals can match students with a therapist who has personal experience or expertise in the diverse communities that make up their students’ backgrounds, as well as knowledge of the common mental health stigmas these students may face from either their community or family.

Looking ahead

A student’s learning behavior is inextricably linked to their mental well-being. When individuals are experiencing higher levels of stress or anxiety, it can reflect negatively in their ability to focus or retain information. Equitable access to mental health resources drives academic performance and success—giving all students an opportunity to access the care that they may so desperately need. By adapting to the diverse needs of today’s youth, our schools can—and will—make a significant impact in combating what U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, has declared the “defining public health crisis of our time,” and help an entire generation of students be more successful in school and life.

Related: It’s critical to promote mental health supports at the start of the school year

Key points:

• Relationships are critical to students’ future success
• Schools play an integral role in facilitating relationship-building
• See related article: 10 things schools need to do to build students’ networks

The research is clear: Connections are game changers in helping young people from low-income households achieve upward economic mobility later in life.

The critical role that relationships play in the opportunity equation was well-documented in political scientist Robert Putnam’s 2015 book, Our Kids. Putnam’s argument was further confirmed in recent, large-scale research by Harvard economist Raj Chetty and his team at Opportunity Insights, who mined 21 billion data points from de-identified Facebook data to discover that cross-class connections were a leading predictor of upward mobility in adulthood. The analysis also offered school-level data charting “economic connectedness”–or lack thereof–within individual high schools and colleges across the country.

What can school systems do with this research? At face value, deeper economic integration across and within schools is a must.

But residential economic segregation is endemic–in fact, in large school districts, economic segregation has increased 47 percent since 1991. At the same time, Chetty’s research suggests that integration alone is not enough. Forging connection requires deliberate steps to overcome “friending bias” that can strain connecting across lines of difference.

In other words, hope is not a strategy. But it doesn’t have to be.

Technological advances in recent decades mean that we don’t have to let history repeat itself, even as segregation persists. Alongside critical, ongoing efforts to integrate schools, education systems can turn to technology tools for forging new relationships across economic divides. What might that look like in practice?

For one student in the Bronx, NY named Daniel, a single relationship–maintained in large part through virtual check-ins–radically expanded his sense of what was possible. Daniel, who would be the first in his family to go to college, hoped to become a software engineer. He was matched with a volunteer mentor, Munim, through the nonprofit iMentor. iMentor, along with a growing supply of online and virtual college access programs, provides a platform and curriculum that blends virtual and face-to-face mentoring.

When he began the program, Daniel expected to go to a local college and live at home. But in their online weekly and once monthly in-person check-ins, Munim saw how talented he was. As they talked about his future, Munim urged Daniel to apply to very selective schools—schools that Daniel hadn’t known about or hadn’t thought were realistic options. With Munim’s support during the college application process, Daniel was accepted to Williams College.

Daniel’s experience provides a powerful, yet singular, snapshot of what just one supportive relationship can offer to help a young person realize their academic and career potential. Today, far more of these stories are possible with technology that enables students’ access to supports by eradicating all-too-common geographic or time constraints.

Scaling these experiences to ensure that Daniel’s journey becomes not just an outlier but common practice for countless other students requires a deep understanding not just of what edtech tools to use, but how to use them effectively.   

5 strategies to successfully scale edtech that connects

First, tech shouldn’t offer connections at random; decades of research confirms that similarity breeds trust. Matching algorithms like iMentors’ pair mentors and mentees based on shared interests; in the case of Daniel and Munim, that was a mutual enthusiasm for video games and coding.

Second, tech should foster authentic sharing and reciprocity by spurring conversations. For example, iMentor’s curriculum provides recommendations and specific prompts for what each party should be sharing and doing at each point in its scope and sequence. Other organizations, like Matriculate, recruit virtual coaches who are current college students–just a few years ahead of current high schoolers–in an effort to lend authenticity and credibility to conversations.

Third, online and blended connections should be supported at every step by a trained professional whose express goal is to help foster this connection. For example, the platform iCouldBe, which fosters year-long relationships between students and virtual mentors offers dedicated full-time staff who track and support those connections and intervene if engagement wanes.

Fourth, to reap the greatest benefits, schools should position tech to power lasting connections, rather than fleeting interactions. Repeated and supported interactions build trust; in turn, mentors like Munim can offer myriad resources at different points in time, attuned to their mentees interests and future possibilities. In the case of iMentor, mentors and mentees devote an entire year to building a relationship before mentees make big decisions about their lives in 12th grade.

Fifth, AI tools should wrap around relationships, not replace them. Enterprise tools like ChatGPT and tech tools like Mainstay are already proving that AI can multiply the resources, like information and guidance, at students’ disposal. Yet, research underscores that student relationships are still a critical component in connecting them to opportunities. After all, their findings highlighted the outsized role of social capital amidst the rise of the internet. That suggests that while the internet can provide people with information about the doors and pathways to opportunity, it’s people that open those doors.

Those five investments might sound labor intensive, but the benefits of infrastructure, supports, and taking the long view are well worth it. In the case of iMentor, for example, mentees are 1.5x more likely to enroll in college, and nearly twice as likely to graduate from college as students at peer schools. Without the strategic application of technology, this process of cultivating mentoring relationships for thousands of students each year would be unfeasible, consuming excessive school time and personnel resources.

Expanding the frontier for edtech that connects

There’s a growing stock of technology platforms optimized for authentic human connection, demonstrating unprecedented scale and flexibility in helping people who otherwise might not meet to forge meaningful connections. For example, organizations like Student Success Agency and Beyond 12 are scaling access to virtual “near peers”–those a few steps ahead in age or experience–to coach students into and through postsecondary institutions.

Other tools are fostering conversations among peers across the globe. Soliya, a virtual exchange program, has honed an ability to host online dialogues where participants— mostly university students—discuss often divisive political and social issues with the support of a trained facilitator (many of whom are program alums). Still other companies, like MentorSpaces and Candoor, are designed to help young professionals from historically underrepresented backgrounds have conversations with more seasoned professionals “in the know” who can lend valuable advice and job referrals.

Tools like these amount to a rapidly expanding frontier in edtech that reflect what research is pointing schools toward: benefits abound by powering youth connections to coaches, industry professionals, and peers from a wide array of backgrounds. For schools serving students growing up in poverty, these connections pave a path to economic opportunity in the face of stubborn economic segregation.

Daniel recently graduated from Williams with a BA in math and computer science, and now works as a software engineer for a major financial services company. Munim was able to support Daniel at a critical juncture in his journey. “It was my job to help him bridge his success from high school into college,” Munim said. Looking back, Daniel credits his relationship with Munim with pushing him out of his comfort zone—both in the college application process and in life—to cross a bridge he never knew existed.

These are the very bridges schools need to start building.

Related: 5 steps to build and strengthen students’ networks

Key points:

• Showing up for your students in small ways every day can have a huge impact
• Students are learning from their teachers all the time–reaching out in thoughtful ways does wonders
• See related article: Balancing high expectations with relationship building to boost engagement

Throughout my career, I’ve held many titles. I’ve been a reading specialist, a special education teacher, and an English teacher, among others. No matter what my job was called, one of the most important things I did every day was to try to build relationships with students. Especially since the pandemic, teachers have been encouraged to build rapport with their students as schools have placed greater focus on social and emotional learning (SEL).

Students with disabilities often require more frequent check-ins. Whether it’s because they need reassurance that they are doing their work correctly, have a tendency to drift off track, or just need an extra pat on the back here and there, the connection is important to their success.

While their individualized education plans (IEPs) will often spell this out explicitly, I have found that these lighter, more frequent touchpoints are a great way to build relationships with students–trusting, supportive relationships regardless of their abilities. Here’s how it works:

Getting to know your students

Take some time at the beginning of the year to get to know your students, and don’t be afraid to let them get to know you.

Students who struggle with disabilities, especially in high school, have been struggling for a long time, and it’s still really hard. It’s not from lack of intervention or effort on their part. They have some challenge that interferes with how they learn, and that makes school difficult. They’ve been trying their best for years, and it hasn’t gotten them out of special reading classes or eliminated their need for an IEP. Sometimes that can make students seem unmotivated or uninterested in trying their hardest.

Instead of just going through the motions and giving them a “get to know you” survey, give them a little bit of yourself. Tell them about a way that you struggled in school. When I was in school, I wasn’t particularly quick at picking up new math concepts or doing mental math.  I required numerous examples and always used scratch paper.  When I went to college, I found that I had to make adjustments to my note taking and studying time in order to transition to the additional rigor. I can’t be in their shoes. I don’t have a disability, but I can relate because I was a kid too, and school wasn’t always so easy.

Building rapport through quick, positive check-ins

In addition to sharing stories of your own challenges, showing up for your students in small ways every day can have a huge impact.

Every year I have a handful of students who have trouble getting motivated at the beginning of the day. We can’t all be morning people! A number of years ago I began using an app, Remind, that lets me send text messages without knowing my students’ phone numbers or revealing my own. I gave students the option to opt in and created a texting group that I called “Early Risers.”

Each day at 7:00 AM I would send out an inspirational quote or other message to the group to help get them started. On Monday, it might be as simple as, “I know you’ve had a long weekend, but let’s get this week started off strong!” I could schedule the texts ahead of time, too, so I could set up messages for the upcoming week all at once. These could be simple reminders such as “we are in the library” or “don’t forget that your paper is due.”

Text messaging is a nice way to let students know you’re thinking about them, and if you use a service that lets you schedule them, you can become a brief, positive presence in their lives when they need support most. That’s true even if it’s early in the morning when they are struggling to wake up and you’re flying around getting ready for the day.

Text messages can also be a great way to follow up with students if you missed an opportunity to congratulate them on a great job during class. Some days I have a million things going on and it feels like I’m making one decision after another. At times like that, I will sometimes have a delayed reaction and realize after my students leave, “Wow, they did a great job today and I didn’t say anything about it.” With text messaging, it’s easy to send out a note that says, “You all worked really hard today! Have a great weekend!”

It’s important not to send too many texts and to make sure the texts aren’t stressful. As teachers, our students are always on our minds, so I find that every time I pick up something to read or sit down to watch a TV program, I see something relevant to class and feel the urge to send a note. It’s nice to be able to send them out on the weekends or evenings, but if you do that too often, students may begin to feel like they are never able to escape school. I make sure not to overwhelm them with the number of texts I send, and I make sure that most of them are not about stressful things like homework.

At the end of the year when I receive feedback from students, they always talk about how much they like the text messages. They often seem a little surprised to receive them, even though they signed up for them.

Sometimes students’ families will want to get into the group texts to see what they are all about and I’m happy to add them. Remind lets me set up as many groups as I like. I think with younger students in particular, family groups would be useful, but I have only used it to communicate directly with students and let their families join those groups if they are interested.

How connecting and building relationships with students pays off

Many years ago, Brett Kopf, cofounder and board member of Remind, was a student of mine. I met him when he was a sophomore. I’m still friends with Brett, and I even keep in touch with his mom after all these years!

Having that family support as a teacher is incredibly important. When a student’s family is behind the relationship they develop with their teacher, it’s so much easier to support their student as they prepare to do amazing things in the world.

No matter how hard you work to build a relationship with students, they aren’t all going to go on to start companies that will find their way into your classroom or even keep in touch years later. But if they see you trying every day, it will have an impact.

A few years ago, I had a strong student who was conscientious about turning everything in on time. She happened to be in a class with many students who often needed support with motivation. During Teacher Appreciation Week, she gave me a thank you note that told me that even though some students didn’t always pay attention, she appreciated that I tried every single day.

Students are learning from their teachers all the time, even when we aren’t trying to teach or interact with them directly. Keep reaching out to students in small ways, every single day. You never know who you’ll reach.

Related: How I build relationships with students using instructional audio

Key points:

• Mental performance coaching in schools plays an integral component of developing student well-being
• Educators can support students as they hone and enhance their emotional and mental capabilities
• See related article: 3 key parts of this district’s student mental health support

Picture this: Empowered educators are equipped with the insights and strategies of mental performance coaching in schools. They possess the transformative ability–well-established in athletics but yet to be fully realized in the classroom–to help students meet the challenges of life with greater resilience, self-esteem, and focus. Teachers, school coaches, and education leaders are catalysts that propel students towards this emotional and mental strength, using approaches that have benefited thousands of athletes at all levels.

To the cynic, “mental performance coaching” may sound like a passing trend. But in reality, mental performance coaching in schools holds immense value as an integral component of developing student well-being.

By embracing it, educators can offer crucial support to students in honing and enhancing their emotional and mental capabilities. And in doing so, we send a powerful message to our students that their mental and emotional well-being is as important as their academic or athletic success.

What is mental performance coaching?

In sports, mental performance coaching is used to foster an athlete’s confidence, resilience, and focus. Coaches specializing in mental performance help their athletes identify personalized objectives and craft resources and exercises to cultivate a productive mindset. But the impact of mental performance coaching extends beyond the gym or field. In fact, the data is clear–adding such skills to a young person’s mental and emotional toolbox sets them up for success.

Mental performance coaching transcends athletic performance, empowering students to master emotional regulation and fortify their mental well-being. Research shows that two of the most important tools for building student success are self-esteem and the ability to tune out distractions. A recent study found that high self-esteem is linked to higher performance at school and work, stronger relationships, and improved physical and mental health. These aren’t simply short-term benefits; the study found that these positive outcomes endure through different life stages.

Similarly, whether students face the heat of a game or are trying to navigate the ups and downs of everyday life, they must be able to tune out the noise–the noise of competition, uncertainty, pressure, and outside expectations–and feel confident of their place in the world. Instead of adding to the distractions of sport, school, or social media, mental performance coaching in schools nurtures self-compassion and guides students to see competition as a chance to showcase their growth and abilities. In doing so, young people can create a healthier relationship with themselves and the world, unlocking their potential for personal development and authentic connection.

4 mental coaching strategies to empower students 

There are a number of mental performance coaching strategies that coaches consistently use with athletes to build positive mindsets. Parents, educators, and coaches can adapt them to support students in their emotional growth, both in and out of the classroom. 

• Share the concept of “yet.” When students say they can’t do something, prompt them to add the word “yet” at the end. This simple word helps students view roadblocks as an opportunity for continuous development. Athletes can use this to drive their motivation onwards when they feel stuck. 

• Mentally rehearse challenging tasks. Having students mentally walk through a completed project before beginning allows them to see their desired outcome clearly, and even more importantly, visualize the steps needed to get there. Mental rehearsal can even help to identify possible obstacles before they occur, increasing the likelihood of attaining success. Athletes can use this to experiment and explore possibilities for their performance or to practice a specific skill or movement. 

• Set intentions. When students take a few moments at the start of their school day to quietly set an intention for the day, they learn focus and commitment. How would they like to go about their tasks, and what behaviors might help them? Athletes can use this tool for clarity on what they want to think and feel going into practice or competitions.

• Tap into quick mindfulness exercises. Throughout the day, students can take a pause to focus on their breath, quiet their mind and tune in with themselves physically and mentally. Repeated practice of these quick pauses will improve their attention span. Athletes often use the moments, before, after, and even during their performances to engage in mindfulness. 

Mental performance coaching in schools focuses on the long game

Mental performance coaching in schools requires consistent reinforcement, and these strategies should be integrated throughout the academic curriculum and teaching practices. By doing so, we empower young people to shift the spotlight from social comparison to self-compassion, from pressure to opportunity, and from the outcome to the development journey. Together, we can offer a new perspective on what it means to be victorious.

Related:
Why schools are a natural setting for mental health support
3 ways to leverage tech for better student mental health

Key points:

• Societal challenges are contributing to students’ absenteeism
• Remaining in consistent communication with adults and caregivers can help reduce chronic absenteeism
• See related article: 5 ways video improves school-home communication

Adolescents are in crisis right now. Social media, pandemic isolation, gun violence, and structural racism have formed a perfect storm. It’s been so devastating to teens that the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Children’s Hospital Association together declared a national state of emergency in children’s mental health.

CDC data show 42 percent of teens feel “persistently sad or hopeless,” and 1 in 5 have seriously considered suicide. Just tally up the effects of the past few years. The number of anxious and depressed teens soared during and after the pandemic. The harmful impact of Instagram, particularly on adolescent girls, was all over the news. Recently, the Surgeon General issued a warning about social media, saying, “We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis.” While coming to school should be for learning and friendship, students are pausing to practice in case an active shooter bursts in, leading to a syndrome called vicarious traumatization.

It’s no surprise absenteeism is at an all-time high.

So, how do we get kids back in school?

There’s no quick fix for the societal challenges we’re facing, but there are steps we can take to address absenteeism.

Educators know attending school transforms present life and future prospects for every child. We also know that students are more likely to attend school when they feel their presence matters to someone in the building, known as school connectedness. So, the first thing schools should think about when it comes to absenteeism is consciously aligning school communications with school connectedness.

Take preventative absenteeism measures. For students already struggling with anxiety and depression, a restorative approach to attendance, focusing on relationships and belonging, is far more likely to create the conditions for showing up than one that focuses on truancy.

Erica Peterson, national education manager for School Innovations & Achievement, an organization that supports districts via positive attendance interventions, noted, “Our internal data shows positive communications foster a welcoming school environment, improve student and family engagement, and promote active participation in the learning process.”

Engage home adults with regular classroom updates.

Positive universal attendance initiatives set the tone. But school connectedness relies on students feeling that they matter to a specific adult in the building. That’s where a weekly update can help.

Once a week, the classroom/homeroom teacher or advisor sends a digital, translatable update via email and posts it to social media. Digital, because home adults need access from any device. Translatable because high numbers of chronically absent students are English learners. It should arrive on a consistent day and time, so families anticipate its arrival and rely on its delivery. This builds trust with parents and caregivers. It says, “I am taking the time to share with you what’s happening at school. It matters to me that you know.”

Each week, the update should contain the same basic information:

• The schedule
• Due dates & assignments
• Upcoming events
• Contact information for the teacher/advisor and school counselors
• Attendance-focused shoutouts for students

High schools often back away from a weekly cadence of updates, but absenteeism rates reach their peak in high school. So, it’s actually when we need to pull families closer.

Next, we follow up.

Not everyone is going to engage with updates. So, Part 2 of the weekly update is the weekly analytics dive. This is where an integrated data analytics and communications platform is essential for improving student outcomes. It enables teachers to keep track of engagement and see correlations between students’ behavior, achievement, home life, and attendance. When teachers see problematic patterns emerging, they can initiate a positive 1:1 conversation with parents and together develop an attendance plan.

We can never assume home adults don’t care.

Rather, we can assume that most of the time, they simply don’t know what’s going on. If we want to turn absenteeism around, that’s where the change needs to start. In this era of tech, there are excellent, equitable tools for easy digital, translatable school newsletters, 1:1 text messaging, and automated attendance management systems that, when used in combination, will have an immediate impact on attendance.

There are so many barriers to showing up. Let’s not let lack of communication be one of them.

Related:
Has your district unified school-to-home communications?
5 ways a more equitable school-home communication system helped our district

Key points:

• Students are facing an unprecedented mental health crisis
• Technology can be a powerful ally in positive mental health

Researchers have long speculated that the increasing use of technology and social media among teenagers contributes to worsening mental health outcomes. Now, it can be an important tool to help schools address an unprecedented mental health crisis.

In addition to traditional triggers for poor mental health, like exposure to adversity, in-process coping mechanisms, substance use, and other factors, students are grappling with novel challenges. This includes the long-tail effects of a global pandemic, and frighteningly frequent instances of violence at school and in communities, creating a perfect storm for a mental health crisis.

Unsurprisingly, the kids are not all right.

According to a recent survey that gathered input from more than 350 school social workers, teachers, counselors, administrators, and district leaders, 85 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree that students are more stressed and anxious than in previous school years.

“The impact this is having is heartbreaking. Students are struggling in ways I have not seen in the 20+ years I have been a school social worker,” one school social worker said when responding to the survey. “The anxiety and stress impacts academics, attendance, social skills, social interactions with adults and peers, and their friendships.”

Eighty-nine percent of survey respondents shared this sentiment, saying they agree or strongly agree that stress and anxiety negatively impact academic outcomes, offering critical context to plummeting math and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a national exam commonly referred to as the nation’s report card.

Simply put, ensuring students thrive academically requires helping kids thrive holistically. In this way, technology can actually be part of the solution, not just an underlying problem.

Here are three ways schools can use technology to support positive mental health outcomes for students.

1. Create critical connections

Teachers, coaches, and school counselors are often the first people to notice mental health problems. This is excellent news because struggling students are often willing to open up to trusted adults.

In total, 70 percent of survey respondents agree or strongly agree that students are willing to communicate their needs and ask for help from a trusted adult at school. However, students’ openness is only an asset if staff can confidently use that information to connect students with necessary resources.

Unfortunately, 85 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree that they wish they had more tools or resources to help students address their mental health challenges.

Today, many schools rely on improvisational and relational systems to make these connections. For example, teachers or coaches have reported using hallway conversations, shared documents, or email messages to communicate student needs with counselors, administrators, and other support staff.

This is a recipe for letting students fall through the cracks.

Collaborative case management solutions provide schools with the tools to tackle pressing issues. Instead of depending on basic or makeshift reporting methods, advanced digital documentation and joint case management systems empower staff to seamlessly connect students with essential support.

2. Expand access to key services

Since 2021, 70 percent of public schools report seeing more students seeking mental health support at school. Frighteningly, the National Center for Education Statistics found that 56 percent of public schools “moderately or strongly agreed that they could effectively provide mental health services to all students in need.”

Specifically, many schools are struggling to hire enough social workers and guidance counselors. As PBS reported earlier this school year, “many school mental health professionals have caseloads that far exceed recommended limits, according to experts and advocates, and students must wait for urgently needed help.”

Digital tools and services can help bridge the widening gap between the demand for mental health services and schools’ ability to provide them.

Schools can provide access to online platforms where students can access resources, participate in self-guided therapies, or connect with mental health professionals for counseling and therapy sessions.

Forbes helpfully compiled a list of the best online therapy tools for teens, and with many students already comfortable communicating online, these digital resources can be vital to ensuring that every student has access to the services they need to thrive.

3. Teach and train staff & students

Schools can harness the power of digital resources to teach and train staff and students about mental health challenges and potential solutions by leveraging a diverse array of online platforms, tools, and multimedia content. Implementing e-learning modules, webinars, and virtual workshops can facilitate a deeper understanding of mental health topics, enabling staff to recognize early warning signs and adopt effective intervention strategies.

Furthermore, interactive online courses featuring engaging videos, quizzes, and case studies, can empower students and educators to develop resilience, coping mechanisms, and self-care practices.

Finally, schools leverage social media campaigns and digital storytelling to create awareness around mental health challenges, destigmatize conversations, and encourage help-seeking behavior. By collaborating with mental health professionals, schools can develop and curate high-quality, evidence-based digital content tailored to their needs.

We can, and we must

It’s clear that students are encountering a profound and multifaceted mental health crisis. As educational leaders, we can, and we must, do everything we can to support their overall well-being.

While technology has often been viewed as a contributing factor to deteriorating mental health, it can also serve as a powerful ally in promoting positive mental health outcomes. Technology alone won’t solve the problem, but it can be a powerful tool, helping schools provide the support students need to thrive.

Related:
3 key parts of this district’s student mental health support
How did the pandemic impact students’ social capital?

Students’ access to opportunities in life largely depends on their access to diverse, supportive relationships. Now, updated Christensen Institute research illustrates the impact students’ connections and relationships have on their ability to achieve success in adulthood–and underscores the need for schools to track this data as they measure students’ progress.

The updated report augments ongoing research and provides education leaders with the tools, knowledge, and sample survey items to make important strides toward measuring students’ networks in more equitable, meaningful, and actionable ways.

Emerging research from other organizations has strengthened the need to understand just how important relationships and resources are to students, particularly as opportunity gaps grow even wider.

In 2021, nonprofit think tank Brookings Institution published “How We Rise,” which analyzes findings from a survey developed by research partner Econometrica to assess how individuals’ education, job, and housing networks impacted their chances of economic mobility.

A similar research collaboration between Strada, a national social impact organization, and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) evaluated undergraduate students’ engagement in career preparation activities, including surveying students about their participation in various social capital-building opportunities and their confidence tapping into alumni and professional networks.

Brookings discovered that across the four cities it studied, race was the leading predictor of the size and strength of individuals’ job, education, and housing networks, with Black men reporting the smallest, weakest networks. NSSE and Strada data revealed that across the 55,000 college students surveyed, first-generation students are less likely than continuing-generation students to take part in career-building activities, especially those related to building social capital within their fields of interest, including networking with alumni or other professionals; interviewing or shadowing someone in their career of interest; and discussing career interests with faculty.

This information forms “a critical bedrock for policies and practices aimed at deepening and expanding social networks in more equitable ways,” according to the updated research.

Schools and nonprofits also have new ways to initiate their own data collection. For example, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Search Institute, a nonprofit research organization focused on youth development, created a free assessment called the Social Capital Assessment + Learning for Equity (SCALE) Measures. Learning measurement platforms, such as Hello Insight, are integrating social capital and peer network measurements within their SEL assessments.

The Christensen Institute’s initial report examines the complex–but increasingly important–issues surrounding students’ relationships. It explores the idea that students have to have access to the right resources and opportunities to follow their interests and excel in school and beyond–and key among those resources, although often-overlooked, is students’ social capital.

Part of this importance lies in closing opportunity gaps. In fact, “building students’ social capital is an equity imperative for any system committed to closing opportunity gaps,” according to the report.

In The Missing Metrics: Emerging practices for measuring students’ relationships and networks, authors Mahnaz Charania, Ph.D., a senior research fellow at the Christensen Institute, and Julia Freeland Fisher, director of education research at the Christensen Institute, describe students’ social capital as their “access to, and ability to mobilize, relationships that help them further their potential and their goals”–and students’ social capital is important because relationships give students access to resources and opportunity.

“Most schools and programs wholeheartedly agree that relationships matter. But far fewer actually measure students’ social capital,” according to the report. “Oftentimes, relationships, valuable as they may be, are treated as inputs to learning and development rather than outcomes in their own right. In turn, schools routinely leave students’ access to relationships and networks to chance.”

In particular, measuring students’ social capital and relationships in four specific areas is important:
1. Quantity of relationships measures who is in a student’s network over time. The more relationships students have at their disposal, the better their chances of finding the support they need and the opportunities they deserve.

2. Quality of relationships measures how students experience the relationships they are in and the extent to which those relationships are meeting their relational, developmental, and instrumental needs. Different relationships offer different value as students’ needs evolve.

3. Structure of networks gauges the variety of people a student knows and how those people are themselves connected. Different people with varied backgrounds, expertise, and insights can provide students with a wide range of options for discovering opportunities, exploring interests, and accessing career options.

4. Ability to mobilize relationships assesses a student’s ability to seek out help when needed and to activate different relationships. Connecting a student to relationships isn’t enough. Young people must be able to nurture relationships and recognize how and when to leverage relationships as resources in their life journey.

Related:
5 on-ramps to building students’ social capital
Are you measuring students’ social capital? You should be

The data is clear: Our students are in the midst of a mental health crisis. A survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in three high school students experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, and nearly half of all students felt persistently hopeless.

We’re now seeing the ripple effects of three years of education disruptions and seismic shifts in learning structures, which underscore the vital importance of caring for the whole student. Our students’ difficulties mirror the increasing anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation that teens nationwide are experiencing. Over the past two years, Tempe Union High School District has centered its focus on prioritizing student mental health. Here’s how we did it–and what we’ve learned.

Leveraging the power of student voices

When we returned to in-person learning, we saw that our students needed even more support than we imagined. We didn’t hesitate when it came to getting them the resources they needed, because timing is critical for mental health challenges.

We asked our student representatives what social-emotional support they and their fellow students needed. That conversation evolved into a districtwide comprehensive mental health policy adopted by Tempe Union’s governing board in 2021. Cementing a resolution around social-emotional wellness into our policies signaled to our students and community that holistic health is a major priority for Tempe Union.

A policy alone wasn’t enough; we needed the human capital to mobilize our efforts. Our psychologists, counselors, and behavior interventionists were overwhelmed. School counselors are critical to mental wellness in schools, but they simply can’t reach every student. The American School Counselor Association recommends a student-to-school-counselor ratio of 250:1, but the average is 408:1.

In addition to Tempe Union school counselors, our district has access to social workers to support our school community. But we needed more to help our students grappling with behavioral issues, mental health challenges, grief, anxiety, and depression.

Transforming social-emotional wellness policy into practice

Recognizing that our mission to provide equitable access to mental health care would require supplementing our internal resources, we partnered with Care Solace. Care Solace helps us coordinate mental health care for needs that exceed the scope of school-based services.

Using a three-pronged approach of enacting a policy, engaging our internal staff, and utilizing third-party resources, we identified three areas of opportunity for our mental health resources:

1. Improve wait time for care

The sheer volume of students who need the support of a qualified mental health professional is staggering, and our staff is constantly inundated with requests. Waiting only exacerbates the issue, so timely treatment is essential. Instead of allowing mental health challenges to intensify while students sit on an appointment waitlist, our students can now access a provider within days.

2. Embed a seamless staffing model

Our counselors and psychologists are a trusted resource for students throughout the district, and Care Solace acts as an extension of our team. Students and families feel they are staying within the same ecosystem of care when they seek support for mental health resources.

3. Encourage mental health conversations

The stigma around mental health can only hold its power if we don’t talk about it. Embracing and encouraging open discussions about mental well-being has been essential in normalizing care for mental health challenges.

Cultivating a culture of mental well-being and ongoing support  

We aren’t just here to help kids improve their test scores or get a 4.0 GPA; we’re here to give them the resources – including the social-emotional skills – to thrive as individuals. If we fail to consider the monumental impact that their mental health has on their overall well-being, then we fall short of our incredible responsibility.

Since implementing our focused approach on mental wellness resources, we’ve had the privilege of hearing firsthand from students and parents about positive outcomes through anecdotal feedback, along with a notable decrease in behavioral reports and increasing utilization of mental health services. The true reward is seeing what can happen when you emphasize the whole person in your approach to well-being.

Normalizing conversations around mental health is one of our most significant wins. Asking for help is not just okay–we passionately encourage it. That message permeates our schools and students’ homes. But empowering our students to seek help is only possible when we have robust resources to offer that support. Now we can help students foster the social-emotional resilience that will help them navigate challenges today and in the future.

Related:
Why schools are a natural setting for mental health support
School social workers fill critical gaps in student care

Children in America are in crisis–struggling with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues at unprecedented levels. As a child and adolescent psychiatrist for the Behavioral Health Center at Children’s Hospital New Orleans, I have had a first-hand look at the increasing numbers of youth struggling with mental health.  

From losses and disruptions caused by the pandemic to increases in gun violence and school shootings to social injustices, children are inundated with messaging across many platforms that negatively impacts their mental health. 

In response to the influx of mental health cases, the American Academy of Pediatrics has declared a national emergency and the U.S. Surgeon General has issued a public health advisory. Over 60 percent of youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment. Even in states with the greatest access, nearly 1 in 3 are going without treatment. 

Louisiana ranks 49th in child well-being and 62.5 percent of youth diagnosed with major depression did not receive mental health services.  

To support a child’s mental health, we need to meet them where they are — at school. 

Barriers to mental health care 

Prior to COVID-19, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 1 in 5 children suffered from mental illness. Data from 2021 indicates that number jumped to 37.1 percent. Yet, only about 20 percent of these children received care from a mental health provider. Access to these mental health services is quite limited for various reasons. 

Some families live in communities where they are unable to find mental health care due to the lack of providers in their area. Other families, particularly those in minority and low-income households, encounter financial and transportation barriers, making it more difficult for them to access mental health services. To tap into these services, they must travel far or be placed on long waitlists to receive care. 

Alongside these barriers, stigma associated with mental health remains pervasive – and this is especially apparent in minority communities. According to the American Psychiatric Association, African Americans, Hispanic, and Latinx communities endorse significant depressive and anxiety related symptoms, and their suicide risk is gradually increasing over time. Studies show when students of color are treated in the medical system, they may experience discrimination, judgment, and implicit or explicit bias. As we work with minority communities, it is important for us to look back to where the distrust is coming from, and re-establish trust by remaining curious and collaborative, remove barriers, and ensure they have access to equitable care.

Creating a school culture of mental health awareness 

When putting the pieces together to create the overall picture of a robust, school-based mental health program, another big component is the educational and training piece for school staff. 

For our behavioral health team to provide mental health care and treatment for children, it is so important for schools to cultivate a safe, non-judgmental culture of mental health awareness where teachers and support staff are trained to identify the early signs of mental illness. Evidence shows that ethnic and racial minorities are often mislabeled as aggressive, violent, or combative when they are, instead, suffering from a chronic, underlying mental illness that was not identified early on. The presence of school based mental health services has been shown to reduce the number of students being misplaced in the school-to-prison pipeline or juvenile justice system.

Bringing mental health care programs to schools 

Since children spend one-third of their lives in the classroom, schools provide a natural setting for students to receive support in a non-stigmatizing and barrier-free environment where they have seamless access to early intervention and treatment in one location. 

School-based mental health care also presents a unique opportunity for us to eliminate barriers to accessing care. Other benefits include students missing less of their classes, parents not having to call out of work to bring their child to appointments, giving parents the ability to attend their child’s appointments virtually, and more opportunity for collaboration between school staff and mental health professionals. 

It is important to provide mental health services from a systems of care approach. The adage “it takes a village” certainly reigns true as it applies to caring for children and their families. Children interact and engage with several different youth-serving entities: education system, primary health care system, mental health system, potentially religious/spiritual care system, child welfare system, substance abuse treatment services system, juvenile justice system, and developmental disabilities system. These systems, when functioning at their best, should be youth-guided and family-driven. Collaboration with the education system involves communicating with many diverse partners including teachers, staff, students, parents, and their families. With everybody coming together, we can address the individualized mental health care needs of children and adolescents within the naturalistic systems and communities in which they live, thus increasing the likelihood of the child growing into a successful, thriving adult. 

Making a difference for our youth 

Mental health issues do not get better on their own. The longer an illness persists, the more difficult it can be to treat and recover. Raising awareness of mental health and offering mental health services directly to students on campus is the focus of school based mental health care. 

Whether you are directly involved in health care or not, we all have a role to play in supporting children by removing barriers to access, and creating communities where young people can grow and thrive.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy expressed this collaborative notion so eloquently when he said: 

“If we seize this moment, step up for our children and their families in their moment of need, and lead with inclusion, kindness and respect, we can lay a foundation for a healthier, more resilient and more fulfilled nation.” 

Related:
Surveys show troubling trends in student behavior
Why student and teacher wellness comes first

As a social worker for an in-district classroom inside of a Texas elementary school, I have the honor of serving some of the most vulnerable students in our community. On March 21, World Social Work Day, it’s important to highlight the essential role social workers play in promoting the well-being of our students and their families.

Every day, I have the privilege of witnessing the incredible resilience of our students, who face challenges that many adults would struggle to overcome. Food insecurity, trauma, and family instability are just some of the obstacles facing our students, and these challenges can have a profound impact on their academic performance, emotional health and future opportunities.

This is where social workers come in. Social workers are a unique component in the education system because we are trained to focus on both the student and their environment. I work alongside special education teachers and other staff to provide the support that our students need to thrive.

Social workers explore external factors that impact a child’s emotional and academic learning and identify strategies to improve their situation. It is our job to help kiddos be successful and feel secure.

I truly believe that social workers enhance the academic mission of a school or classroom by promoting success through active collaboration between a student’s home, school and community.

As a member of the education team, social workers use their skills and connections to community resources to empower families to effectively advocate for their child across multiple settings. Social workers in schools do a lot of work behind the scenes to help ensure students are taken care of completely. We provide counseling and emotional support to students who are struggling with anxiety, depression, or trauma. And we collaborate with teachers to develop strategies for addressing behavioral issues in the classroom.

Despite the important role that social workers play in schools, our profession is often misunderstood and underutilized. But despite these challenges, I remain inspired by the resilience and strength of the students in my classroom. I am grateful for the opportunity to support them on their journey and help them learn how to advocate for themselves.

On this World Social Work Day, I urge community leaders to recognize the essential role that social workers play in promoting the well-being of our students and our communities. By investing in social work services and supporting policies that promote equity and inclusion, we can help to build a brighter future for all students.

Related:
Surveys show troubling trends in student behavior
Why student and teacher wellness comes first

Eighty-four percent of teachers are concerned about student mental health, saying that students are developmentally behind in self-regulation and relationship building compared to students prior to the pandemic. Teachers also report that they are increasingly the target of disruptive student behavior and that classroom incidents involving physical violence have more than doubled since the onset of the pandemic.

These are among the findings of a new survey report from education company EAB at the School Superintendent Association (AASA) National Conference on Education (#NCE2023). The report summarizes findings from a survey of more than 1,000 district and school administrators, teachers, and student support staff.

“Students who exhibit disruptive behaviors are often dealing with underlying mental or social health issues,” said EAB Senior Director of K-12 Research Ben Court. “Unfortunately, nearly 60 percent of teachers feel that pressure to boost lagging academic outcomes leaves them with insufficient time to address behavioral issues, and only 45 percent feel they are receiving adequate training to do so.”

EAB released a second report at the conference, “2023 Voice of the Superintendent” that highlights findings from a separate survey of 198 school district superintendents across 37 states.

Eighty-one percent of superintendents agree that student behavioral concerns are worse now than before the pandemic, with 35 percent saying the situation has gotten “significantly worse.” Ninety-two percent indicated that student mental health crises are worse than they were in 2019, with 57 percent saying the situation has gotten “significantly worse.”

Despite widespread agreement on the severity of behavioral and mental health challenges, 79 percent of superintendents say they lack sufficient staffing to fully address the student mental health crisis, and 74 percent point to staffing shortfalls as the biggest impediment to progress on managing student behavioral issues.

Superintendents cite insufficient budget as the second biggest challenge preventing them from adequately addressing student mental health crises. Almost half (46 percent) of superintendents believe they lack funding sufficient to achieve the most important objectives for their school districts. An equal number (46 percent) say they are likely to leave their job within two to three years.

“EAB’s survey of superintendents showed that while most feel more confident and energized than they did a year ago, persistent funding concerns and staffing headaches have led many district leaders to question whether making progress on their priorities is possible in today’s environment,” said Court. “The top priority for those who choose to stay and persevere must be to create a safe, supportive environment where teachers and students are able to do their best work.”

Additional insights and recommendations for how to mitigate these concerns will be shared in an upcoming series of superintendent roundtable discussions hosted by EAB.

This press release originally appeared online.

Related:
Why student and teacher wellness comes first
How to provide effective and engaging virtual therapy for kids

In this episode of Innovations in Education, hosted by Kevin Hogan:

• 3 strategies to support student well-being and SEL
• Building culture and community takes more than a committee
• Fostering student well-being

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

A notable new lawsuit against social media industry leaders by the Seattle school district has left legal experts divided on how the case will unfold.

The complaint — which alleges that the school district and its students have been harmed by social media’s negative effects on youth mental health — could lead to sweeping changes in the industry, one expert said. Or, as others expect, it could fizzle out with little chance of winning in court.

Seattle Public Schools alleges that the companies — which include Meta, Google, Snapchat, and ByteDance, the company behind TikTok — designed their platforms intentionally to grow their user bases and “exploit the psychology and neurophysiology of their users into spending more and more time on their platforms,” according to a complaint filed earlier this month.

 Kent School District in Washington filed a similar complaint within days.Become a Chalkbeat sponsorhttps://828600fe5aa45bf05a2a149ca5e15adc.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

If the evidence and argument put forward by the districts are sound, a win could usher in a wave of similar litigation by school districts across the nation, said Derek W. Black, an education law professor at the University of South Carolina. 

“What’s on the line here is not the money,” he said. “What’s on the line is the court saying these groups are responsible and therefore they must stop this behavior. That’s what’s on the line: the mental health of the current generation and those that follow.”

Others aren’t so sure.

“It is not a winning lawsuit, and it shouldn’t be,” said Aaron Saiger, an education law professor at Fordham University.

Here’s a look at where the case stands and what legal experts anticipate the future may hold:

What the school district and social media companies are saying

Seattle’s school district has argued that social media companies are maximizing profit at the expense of the mental health of young audiences, who spend significant amounts of time on the platforms and report associating them with stress and anxiety, according to the complaint.

Meanwhile, the social media companies named in the lawsuit emphasized their own commitments to teen and child safety.

“We want teens to be safe online,” said Antigone Davis, global head of safety at Meta, noting the company has developed parental supervision tools and other privacy and safety measures on teen accounts. “We don’t allow content that promotes suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, and of the content we remove or take action on, we identify over 99% of it before it’s reported to us.”

Spokespeople for Google and Snapchat highlighted similar steps they’ve taken to enhance safety for teenagers and children, like allowing parents to impose screen time limits or monitor whom their kids are connecting with on the platform. ByteDance did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit seeks a court order labeling the actions of the company a public nuisance under Washington law, a term that applies to actions that endanger a considerable number of people. It asks the court to tell the companies halt the practices noted in the suit and provide financial compensation to the district. 

How likely the case is to succeed

To Black, a school district is an unexpected plaintiff, but one he believes could have higher odds of success than individual families.

He drew comparisons to cases against the tobacco industry, which grew more successful as governments pursued lawsuits based on the harmful impact of the product on state healthcare systems. An individual might struggle to prove their negative experiences were clearly caused by the product but with broader trend data to refer to, the argument becomes more compelling, he said.

The focus on product design, rather than content on the platform, adds viability to the case, Black added.

“This isn’t just about holding the internet in general liable,” he said. “This is about specific affirmative actions that Google, YouTube, Facebook and others are taking.”Become a Chalkbeat sponsorhttps://828600fe5aa45bf05a2a149ca5e15adc.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

But others believe that it points to a common marketing strategy and doesn’t make a compelling case for legal liability.

“A lot of product marketers would love to addict their customers and do everything in their power to do so — that’s called product marketing,” said Eric Goldman, a technology and marketing law professor at Santa Clara University. “We don’t hold many services or products liable for addicting customers.”

Casinos, for example, aren’t held liable for gambling addictions, he said.

Saiger questioned whether the district had standing. Rather than tobacco cases, he felt it was more comparable to a school district suing a sugary food manufacturer for making children ill in their district.

“It’s a very long causation chain, and I don’t think the courts will be inclined to let the school district pursue it,” he said. “To say, ‘We’re service providers to children whose mental health is affected by thousands of things, and we picked you,’ strikes me as a very attenuated way to understand liability under the nuisance law.”

Goldman also questioned the timing of the case, noting that an ongoing lawsuit by dozens of families against social media companies has made similar arguments. That case, as well as the pending U.S. Supreme Court case Gonzalez v. Google, could have dramatic implications for the school district lawsuits, he said.

“I would assume the [school district] case is going to fail,” he said. “But the battle is taking place in the legislatures as well.” 

What the case could mean — win or lose

Regardless of outcome, the case will attract additional media attention and public scrutiny, experts said. A win could spark other lawsuits and bring changes to social media companies, while a loss might spur litigators to shift tactics in future cases.

“If the evidence that’s in the complaint is true, it is one of, if not, the most important lawsuits to be filed during my lifetime,” Black said. “Because it stretches across so many states … This case, though it would have to be replicated elsewhere, is potentially a huge turning point that is equally significant for the entire nation.”

It’s complicated to think about what remedies are possible in the case, Saiger said. He believes social media offers a public good, unlike tobacco or asbestos, for example.

“A plausible remedy in the opioid case was to take the pills off the market,” he said. “That’s not a plausible remedy, in my opinion, for social media, because it has social value.”

Though the court could intervene and seek changes to social media companies’ business practices, such as insisting against certain marketing strategies or requiring stronger age verification, Saiger said such changes seemed more likely to come from a state legislative body.

Goldman added the court is unlikely to consider the benefits of social media. 

“It’s not really the court’s job to try to balance that kind of evidence, particularly because the proponents of the benefits of social media might not be in the courtroom,” he said. “That’s what legislators are supposed to do.”

Some state legislatures have already taken steps in that direction. California lawmakers, for example, passed the Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, which imposes more stringent requirements that online services identify and protect minors on their sites.

Signed into law last fall, it faces a legal challenge from the tech trade group NetChoice, which includes major industry players like Google, TikTok, and Meta.

Still, if the school district case is able to proceed, the stakes could be enormous.

“If the plaintiffs tell their story to the judge and are successful, the consequences could be a radical reshaping of the internet,” Goldman said. “That’s a good reason for us to both be concerned about the lawsuit and to question whether or not this is the right way to solve the problem.”

What the science says about social media’s effects

As legal experts disagree about the viability of the case, the science, too, isn’t completely clear.

While research has drawn links between, say, social media use and anxiety or certain types of content and maladaptive behavior, it has not established a clear causal relationship between social media and worsening trends in youth mental health and depression, said Mitch Prinstein, the chief science officer at the American Psychological Association.

“Is social media, by itself, and just kids’ normal use of it, solely responsible for the national trend we’re seeing in youth mental health? Probably not,” he said, adding he wasn’t commenting on the legal arguments. “From a scientific perspective we can’t say that, nor do I know that we could ever say that.”

The claim becomes murkier when accounting for other variables, like economic stress, increased divisiveness across the country, and changing depictions of mental health in media and popular culture. Further muddying the waters are potential upsides associated with social media use.

“On the flipside, kids are now using tech to have their primary interaction with other peers — and we do know there’s very deep research that shows that our interpersonal relationships have a very profound effect on our risk for mental health difficulties and even our physical health,” Prinstein added. “And we are seeing that kids are reporting pretty directly that their social media experiences are making them feel more isolated and lonely.”

So is social media fueling national trends in youth mental health?

“It’s just very hard to answer scientifically,” he said.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education.

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Avoiding the pitfalls of social media in school

The pandemic’s on students’ social and emotional well-being continues to be felt in schools nationwide. Here at Lincoln County R-III School District in Missouri, we are no different. Many of our students are struggling with regulating their emotions. We’re seeing students needing more social and emotional support.

The Lincoln County Resource Board (LCRB) Mid-year School Based Programs Assessment (January, 2022) listed the most critical behavioral/mental health (BH/MH) issues school personnel believed students were facing. 

• The second most critical BH/MH issue was “anxiety, worry a lot, fear” (93 percent).
• The third most critical BH/MH issue was “controlling emotions, anger management, and conflict resolution” (78 percent), similar to the May and December of 2020 results. 

These challenges are not unique to our school district; in fact, the demand for social and emotional learning (SEL) programs has grown rapidly as more and more districts see this need grow and recognize the value of implementing these programs. A 2021 Tyton Partners report noted school and district spending on SEL grew approximately 45 percent between November 2019 and April 2021 and that student wellbeing had become the top priority among schools and districts.

Our district implemented a social and emotional learning initiative in 2019, which
includes a PK-12 SEL curriculum (RULER), a SEL screener (DESSA) and interventions and preventions such as SEL focused Building Intervention Teams. We also adopted online student safety and wellness courses for students, which reinforce some of these SEL skills such as managing stress and developing healthy relationships.

We learned during this process that it’s important to take a multi-pronged approach to SEL. Here are some ways to do this:

1. Prioritize SEL at the district level. Our district recognized we needed a more
systematic approach to social and emotional wellness for students and staff. So, we created the Director of Social Emotional Learning & Support position. The Director of Social Emotional Learning and Supports is primarily focused on developing and leading all District social and emotional supports for students and assisting school staff with appropriate interventions as necessary. This position also coordinates with outside community agencies for student support. We’ve selected RULER as our SEL curriculum and the DESSA as our SEL screener. We created plans for interventions on SEL wellness, dedicating time to helping students specifically work on skills they need instruction with.

When implementing an SEL initiative, it’s important to have a systematic approach and to take it slow. To aid with the districtwide approach it’s helpful to have it a part of the district level comprehensive improvement plan.  Then, each building can develop their building level improvement plans to set targeted goals to help reach the district’s end goal.

2. Find programs that help cover multiple bases – and set aside dedicated time to do them. Our district adopted online Student Safety and Wellness Courses from Vector Solutions because they are excellent tools to help promote discussions about important issues like bullying, stress management, having healthy relationships, and more. The courses help reinforce social and emotional skills and also help us meet state requirements around some of these issues. Adopting programs that serve multiple needs can help a district be more efficient and more targeted in how it’s supporting students. We look for tools that are going to check multiple boxes.

Once you have those multi-purpose tools, create dedicated class time to use them. Our district has what we call “WIN Time” (“What I Need”) – a dedicated period of time during homeroom for intervention. It can be used for academics or SEL. A teacher can use that time, for example, to have students watch and have a group discussion around one of the Vector video-based lessons.

3. Practice – and reward – positive behavior. This can go a long way toward helping students grow their social and emotional skills and in creating a positive school climate. Troy South Middle School, which serves more than 800 students in grades 6-8, is a great example of a school with a strong focus on this. Middle school can be a tough transition for some students. Troy South Middle School implemented a school wide Positive Behavior Support program with the goal of helping to build positive relationships between students and their peers and teachers while also outlining/explaining
building-wide expectations. The school’s Positive Behavior Supports Matrix describes positive behaviors students can practice in various settings such as using positive language with staff and peers in the classroom or being a responsive listener and active participant during assemblies. Students can earn “RRAP tickets” (Respectful, Ready to learn, Accountable, Positive) for making good behavioral choices, which can be redeemed for various privileges and/or rewards.

The school also does kindness challenges in the fall and spring to support positive behavior. And teachers reinforce behavior by using positive language. For instance, the school has a “chill zone” and a “focus room.” Instead of having negative connotations, it’s explained to students that they don’t go to these spaces because they’re in trouble, it’s because they need space. You need to set the right language and tone of your voice. If a student is having a negative reaction to a situation, we have them take what RULER calls a “Meta-Moment”–a brief step back from the situation where they pause and think about how to turn that reaction positive.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to SEL. However, implementing SEL on a district-wide level, using high-quality curriculum, assessments, and courses that check multiple boxes, and emphasizing positive behavior will all help to provide a well-rounded program.

Related:
How to identify student anxiety in the classroom
Educators, parents remain vigilant about protecting student mental health

Issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic continue to pop up as educators devote more time to student anxiety issues in the classroom. Frustrations mount as they attempt to manage both instructional requirements and a decrease in achievement from at-risk students.

In particular, teachers report escalating anxiety symptoms since the pandemic lockdowns, and data is now available to support their conclusions. The CDC recently declared a student mental health crisis, with 44 percent of high school students reporting sadness or hopelessness.

Dealing with struggling students can overwhelm teachers as they report spending more time attempting to support individuals while shortchanging the rest of the class. Diagnosing and remedying problems is essential.

Every teacher knows that certain cognitive functions must be present for students to learn. Students need:

• Concentration
• Motivation
• Initiative
• Interest
• Self-esteem/efficacy

When students battle the effects of anxiety, all learning pathways shut down, leaving students cognitively drained and consumed with negative thoughts.

Anxiety is not necessarily bad. Everyone experiences it occasionally. It’s common for students to feel a little anxious before a test or presentation. This excitable state can enhance performance. A high anxiety level–one that zaps a student’s concentration, motivation, and initiative–can result in a student shutting down. There are ways to break up an anxious cycle, starting with identifying negative behavior.

Related:
5 ways to help special education students manage testing anxiety
Effective ways to help students reduce stress and anxiety

Telling the difference between mild, transitory anxiety and anxiety that blocks learning over time is a little tricky. It can manifest in several ways. Here are a few common anxiety symptoms noticeable in class.

Identifying anxious behavior

Change in behavior

Have you noticed a student whose mood, energy, or demeanor has changed over time? Perhaps their academic performance dropped off for no apparent reason. This behavior change may be the beginning of an anxiety cycle, and it’s essential to address it as soon as possible before habits are ingrained.

Avoidance

Low participation in class or complete withdrawal can be a sign of student anxiety. Frequent somatic complaints like stomach issues or headaches may be an avoidance strategy. A student who often excuses himself for a bathroom break or asks to visit the nurse may exhibit avoidance. First, before labeling it as an anxiety tactic to get out of schoolwork, ensure the student has a medical checkup to alleviate other sources for the behavior.

Concentration or organizational issues

Difficulties with concentration, organization, or missed assignments may indicate a student is more focused on their feelings of anxiety than the work. The student is overwhelmed, and test anxiety is often a trigger.

Physical signs

Students who bite their nails, pull on their hair, shake their legs, etc., may be experiencing anxiety. Some may even go so far as self-injury, like digging a nail or a pushpin into their skin. Distractions like these provide them with a soothing sensory input, alleviating feelings of anxiety.

Oppositional behavior

Do you have a student that acts out in class? What may look like defiance might be an avoidance tactic. Acting out creates chaos in the classroom, setting up a diversion that gets them out of doing the work. If successful the first time, the student will continue this disruptive behavior.

Effective strategies to support anxious students

Identifying behaviors that block the learning process is the first step to helping students cope. A wide variety of stressors often trigger anxious behaviors. Problems at home can cause sadness or hopelessness, unrealistic expectations can lead to perfectionism and hidden disabilities can cause shame as students fall behind in class. All these factors can provoke undue stress and lead to problematic behaviors.

In the case of the Randolph School District in New Jersey, 40 percent of the students experienced severe anxiety and depression—many being high-achieving students. This prompted the school to launch a comprehensive mental health program to support at-risk students. Because of the overwhelming problems, the district opted for a more comprehensive support system and implemented student mental health workshops and training. The student success rate increased.

Connect with your students

A simple first step is to get to know your students. When questionable behaviors manifest, teachers need to determine what’s behind them before intervening effectively. Students who struggle are often unwilling to talk. Building trust can go a long way to opening a line of communication.

An effective strategy is “2/20.” If a student is disengaged or acting out, spend just two minutes a day for at least 20 days focusing on them. Start a conversation on anything but school and begin to build trust. As the student becomes more comfortable talking with you, they may eventually open up and talk about their issues. Once this is established, you can collaboratively create strategies to manage stressors.

Self-awareness exercises

Teaching students how to recognize anxiety symptoms goes a long way in preventing or diffusing an anxiety attack and helps the teacher manage the situation. If students learn to recognize that a stomachache, sweaty palms, or a racing heart are the start of an impending episode, they can take the next step and learn to self-regulate. A helpful technique is “How Does Your Engine Run?” This strategy helps them effectively identify their feelings and then teaches them to regulate their behavior.

Accommodations and the nature of anxiety (IEP)

If a student’s anxiety is overwhelming and an IEP is called for, teachers need to understand why the adjustments are important. Other students may view accommodations as unfair, like a decreased workload, a special seating assignment or an agreement to come to class late and leave early.

Understanding the changes and advocating for struggling students can go a long way in clearing a path to success. It’s about giving students what they need. It’s equitable, not equal.

With the recent increase in at-risk students, teachers are the first line of defense. Educators who strive to understand the nature of anxiety, how to spot the symptoms and learn a few strategies to support these students can change student lives profoundly. Being observant and proactive in mitigating student anxiety is essential for all teachers.

Parents still voice overwhelming concerns for student mental health and online safety, according to a GoGuardian survey conducted by Morning Consult.

With the 2022-23 school year underway, parents and educators appear to favor online tools that protect students from harmful content and help detect student mental health concerns, according to the survey. 

The nationally representative group of nearly 2,500 K-12 parents, teachers, and administrators indicated both significant concerns for student mental health and a high level of support for schools using online technologies to help keep kids safe.

The need for online safety is especially clear when considering the U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory highlighting the urgency of the nation’s youth mental health crisis. Morning Consult’s survey found that parents and educators recognize the role the internet can play in exacerbating mental health issues.

Key findings related to student mental health and safety from the survey include:

• Concern for student safety is high: More than 83% of K-12 parents, educators, and administrators feel a high level of concern for student mental health and violence in schools.
• The internet plays a role in influencing self-harm or violence: More than 72% of respondents agreed the internet plays a strong role in influencing students to harm themselves or others.
• Unrestricted access can be detrimental or harmful: Over three in four respondents agree that unrestricted access to the internet on school-issued devices can be detrimental to student mental health. 
• There is support for online tools that protect student safety: Nearly 90% of all respondents support online educational technology that could help detect signs of a student considering harming themselves or others.

Related:
Using data insight platforms to improve SEL strategies
Our district is battling a loneliness epidemic

Key overall findings from the survey related to content moderation include:

• The internet is a useful learning tool: 93% of parents and 98% of teachers and administrators agree the internet is a useful learning tool that schools should use as part of their learning process.
• Harmful or explicit content is a concern: 74% of K-8 and 68% of 9-12 parents are concerned about students accessing explicit or harmful content while using a school-issued device. This increases to more than 80% for teachers and administrators.
• Content moderation is necessary and is the school’s responsibility: More than 91% of respondents believe it is necessary to have online educational technologies in place to prevent students from accessing harmful or explicit content. Of those that believe it is necessary, over 95% reported it is a school’s responsibility to put these tools in place.
• Keeping students on task is important, too: Over 88% of those surveyed also believe it is necessary to have online educational technologies in place to keep students on task and away from digital distractions. This is especially critical as educators address pandemic-related unfinished learning.

“These findings validate on a broad, national scale what we’ve long heard directly from our customers: parents and educators believe in the value of learning with the internet, and they trust schools to make the right decisions to keep students safe online,” said Patricia Bothwell, Vice President and General Manager for Safety & Productivity at GoGuardian. “With almost 9 out of 10 students in the U.S. now using a device as part of their daily instruction, it’s more important than ever to provide schools with thoughtful and comprehensive approaches to student safety, privacy, and security.”

With nearly all respondents agreeing it is a school’s responsibility to put educational technologies in place to prevent students from accessing harmful or explicit content, there was also consensus around trust in school systems. More than 83% of those polled indicated they trust their school system to make informed decisions about which online technologies are appropriate for school use. Ensuring student data is not shared or sold was a key priority for survey respondents when measuring comfortability with online educational technologies.

Additional details and visual representations of key survey findings from Morning Consult can be found here.

This press release originally appeared online.