Today, Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is recognizing World Mental Health Day. It’s a day dedicated to raising awareness about a wide variety of mental health challenges and efforts to support those challenges. Mental health is a person’s condition in regards to their psychological, emotional, and social well being. Challenges with mental health can affect a person’s mood, behavior, and way of thinking.
We want to help raise awareness about mental health among children. Unfortunately, children of all ages can struggle with mental health issues. In fact, the World Health Organization reports that “half of all mental illness begins by the age of 14, but most cases go undetected and untreated.” So, this week we are sharing five effective ways that parents can monitor and support their child’s mental health:
Be Flexible
We encourage parents to support their children by understanding that when it comes to mental health, one size does not fit all. Parents can help their children by being flexible and open to a variety of supportive techniques to develop and monitor their child’s mental health. We invite parents to learn about different coping methods that their children can explore to maintain good mental health. DIfferent techniques work for each child and we encourage families to explore several techniques to find what works best for their children. To support parents, CCS has a resourceful counseling services department and a special education department to help families learn about the importance of mental health and coping methods to explore with their children to monitor and support their mental health.
Be Proactive
Before dismissing a child’s outbursts, parents may want to give extended consideration to the cause of their child’s behavioral challenges. Are they tired, hungry, not feeling well? These are a few circumstances that could explain any mental or emotional distress. If parents are having difficulty identifying a specific cause of their child’s outbursts, we invite them to be proactive and take further action to find a cause. We recommend that families avoid waiting for mental health concerns to escalate before taking action and deciding what works best for their child. Instead, parents can consider partnering with school staff, counselors and special education teachers to create a plan to monitor and support their child’s mental health and if necessary take the proper steps to develop and strengthen their mental health.
Encourage Communication
Talking about feelings and emotions is a simple way to help develop and protect a child’s mental health. We encourage parents to invite their children to share their thoughts, ideas, and feelings out loud on a daily basis. By doing so, children are more likely to process their feelings and cope with the challenges that they face in a healthy way. It’s important that parents are able to listen quietly without judgment while their children talk. Listening quietly will help children feel safe while they share their thoughts and feelings and will likely encourage them to continue communicating with their parents. Another important topic that families can discuss is safe people and places that children can turn to if they feel bullied, scared, or uncomfortable for any reason. We encourage parents to help their child create a list of people, places, phone numbers, and organizations that their child can contact if they feel unsafe or unwell for any reason. Having a contact list of safe spaces can definitely help improve a child’s mental health.
Be Active
Exercise is an essential part of developing and maintaining good mental health. It impacts our mental outlook and helps ward off depression, anxiety and other threats to mental and emotional health. We encourage families to spend time exercising together every day. In fact, our scholars are tasked with the responsibility of exercising through their physical education class or independently every day. The list of exercise activities is endless! Scholars can choose to go for a walk, ride their bike, or take a karate or dance class. There are so many different options. Being active helps the body release hormones called endorphins into the brain and nervous system. Endorphins are attributed to improving our overall mood and disposition, which often has a positive impact on our mental health. Exercising as a family is definitely a simple way that parents can support their child’s mental health.
Be Consistent
Consistency is key when it comes to developing and protecting a child’s mental health. We encourage families to create and stick to a weekly schedule that meets their needs. Scholars are tasked with a variety of different responsibilities every day, which can make it difficult to stick to a schedule. However, having a daily or weekly routine can help children more prepared and in control of their responsibilities both inside and outside of the classroom. Plus, having a schedule can help regulate sleep schedules, time for relaxation and time for work. Creating this level of consistency can greatly improve a child’s chances of sleeping well and maintaining mental wellness.
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Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is a WASC-accredited virtual charter school that serves families throughout California. Interested in learning more about CCS’ flexible academic programs? Visit our website, or contact our enrollment team at enrollment@compasscharters.org or (877) 506-8631.