Storytelling—through storytelling, students can listen to other experiences their fellow peers have faced (whether experienced personally, heard/seen from a family or friend, or other similar reference). Not only does this help build other students’ understanding, it reminds students of how mental health concerns look and feel different for everyone.
Listening—encouraging students to actively listen to others, instead of interrupting to reply is key. Not only does it teach students the respectful nature of active listening, it also provides support to those who are experiencing stressful mental health episodes, and need someone to talk to.
Understanding and Providing Encouragement—while students face mental health in their own way, teaching students basic skills on how to support one another is key. Reminding students to be understanding of other people’s emotions (even when they’re not fully understood) and provide positive statements of encouragement to build them up. This reminds students on how they can be supportive to others, even when they feel like they can’t do anything to help. It is however important to remind students to inform a teacher or trusted adult when they see a friend in great distress.
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Having a safe, inclusive atmosphere is a key contributor to students and their wellbeing. While cultivating a safe space that physically welcomes students, we also must be mindful of the students’ social security as well.
Therefore, teachers must ensure that their classroom environment is built in a manner that ensures students are supportive and encouraging towards one another—specifically by fostering empathy. The more students learn with each other, and consider each other’s feelings, students will better understand what their peers are going through, but also be able to support them and their needs. Most importantly, it will help those students in the class who suffer with mental illnesses and/or similar anxiety episodes, will feel supported and valued.
Encouraging these discussions helps normalize the topic of mental health in classroom for everyone. Mental health is a key part of our overall health, and therefore should not be ignored or silenced. Therefore teaching students how to navigate these delicate discussions is a great start. It is key though, that teachers and other staff are actively aware of the mental health climate and ensure that all questionable cases are reported to a school mental health official.