February 2024 Parenta magazine_compressed

Children’s Mental
Every year we celebrate Children’s Mental
Health Week in the UK and this year it runs
from the 5th to the 11th of February. This
dedicated week provides an opportune
time to raise awareness about the
mental health challenges individuals
may encounter and explore strategies to
overcome them.
All children deserve to have good mental
health but sadly, this is not the case for
many young people. In fact, according to
The Children’s Society, in a normal class
of 30 pupils, 5 are likely to have a mental
health issue. Fifty percent of all mental
health problems start by the age of 14,
and the Mental Health Foundation say that
seventy-five percent of children and young
people who experience mental health
problems are not getting the support they
need. Some examples of mental health
disorders that children can suffer from
include anxiety disorders, depression,
other mood disorders, eating disorders,
and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Without treatment, these mental health
conditions can prevent children from
reaching their full potential.
These statistics and facts should be a
wake-up call to all adults especially those
in the caring, education and healthcare
professions to see what else we can do to
support the mental health of our children
and young people.
Raising awareness and celebrating
Children’s Mental Health Week (CMHW) is
a great place to start so we’ve given you
some more information and ideas as to
how you can do this in your setting.
The first CMHW was launched in 2015
by the charity, Place2Be, and since then,
thousands of people across the UK have
worn a green ribbon and participated in
events and workshops across the country.
The theme this year is “My Voice Matters”
and the aim is to empower, equip and
give a voice to every child in the UK, and to
give them the tools they need to express
themselves.
Health Week
Everyone can take part in the week, and
it is never too early to begin talking to
children about their emotions and how
they feel. There are lots of downloadable
free resources on their website at www.
childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/
including assembly guides, worksheets,
top tips and more.
One of the goals is also to ensure that
no child or young person must face a
mental health problem alone so some of
the resources are also aimed at families,
parents and carers and there are some
informative videos including ones with
British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation.
How can you help
children express
themselves and find
their voice?
Many children and young people are
still learning to express themselves and
this can take years for some people as
they learn to navigate social norms, and
relationships and find their unique place in
the world. Pre-school children are unlikely
to have the words to express themselves
lucidly, but they will understand when they
feel good about things and when they
don’t. As early years practitioners, it is
part of our job to help them find words to
communicate effectively with those around
them, so they can learn to regulate their
emotions rather than be a slave to them
and mature into emotionally intelligent
beings.
Tips to help children
recognise and regulate
emotions:
1. Stay calm and manage your own
state – you cannot help someone
manage big emotions if you match
their stress, anger or anxiety. Stay
calm, use de-escalation techniques
and remain patient
2. Start early – you can talk to babies
about their emotions and begin
pointing out when characters in
stories and films are feeling sad,
happy, anxious or angry
3. Be present and connect – take the
time to connect with the child in
moments of high emotion: ensure
you are on their eye level and are
actively listening to them. Soothe and
reassure them to help them feel safe
4. Help children find words for emotions
– this is one of the most important
things to do. When children display
big emotions, help them by saying
things like; “I can see you are feeling
angry now”, or “People who are
feeling anxious can sometimes show
this by….”
5. Teach, don’t punish – if a child
makes a mistake in addition, we
don’t punish them; we teach them
the right concepts and strategies to
get to the right answer. Yet when we
look at emotions and behaviour, we
can sometimes forget our teaching
remit and think that if a child has
trouble managing their emotions,
we should somehow bring them
into line by introducing punishments
and sanctions. Remember, that all
behaviour is a form of communication,
and our role is to help the child learn
to communicate better!
6. Be a good role model – modelling the
behaviour and emotional intelligence
that you want to see from your
youngsters is a great way to get them
to pay attention and begin the journey
of self-regulation. Children learn by
watching and imitating and this is true
of emotional regulation too
7. Remember the long-term goals – be
prepared to help young children over
time. No one will get everything right
the first time, and not every time,
even adults can struggle with this. So,
be patient, offer praise and reward
progress
Things you can use
to help children talk
about emotions
There are many resources to help children
learn about emotions. Think about: