What valuable tips related to well-being are there for educators and schools?

Useful tips for educators

Many children and young people feel that educators can play a role in supporting their mental health needs [2]. However, many educators feel ill-prepared to offer the right help, especially when their students’ wellbeing may be impacted by their online activities. It is therefore important for teachers to know how to deal with potentially problematic online issues that could negatively impact children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health. It is also vital that children are taught to cope with difficult and potentially harmful online and offline situations and that they are encouraged to take care of their own wellbeing and mental health. We hope these tips can help.

• Encourage children and young people to look after their own mental health [3] by reminding them to take breaks from their screens and engage in their hobbies or interests, and by explaining where they can go if they have issues. Also advise them to seek out help from people or organizations they trust.

• Be aware of possible media panics. For example, the debate around screen time seemed to suggest that screen time negatively impacts wellbeing. However, research evidence remains contested [4]. 

• Stay informed on where to go if a child needs help [5], know where to go and who to contact. Make sure where to go in the structure of the school and outside of the school, such as when to contact law enforcement or reach out to a helpline. [2]

• Keep an eye on the children who are vulnerable offline and those who have existing problems at home or at school. Their vulnerability might be extended online [6].

• Ask for support in the school system when feeling unsure, uncomfortable, or lacking skills to teach about online risks, mental health, and wellbeing in the classroom as these additional responsibilities for educators and schools can be challenging [2].

• Keep track of your own mental health, as the additional responsibilities might add extra pressure and challenges [2]. To properly help CYP with their mental health, it is crucial that the mental health of educators is taken care of. 

Useful tips for schools

• Educators often feel that they lack skills and confidence to deal with mental health in the classroom [2]. Therefore, schools should support them by offering sufficient training and resources to be better prepared to deal with wellbeing and mental health at school. 

• Develop clear school policies and protocols that attend to students’ mental health needs [2]. 

• Have access to local authority or other institutions that support mental health so that when students are struggling, their families can be guided in the right direction for help [2].

• Foster students’ digital skills from a young age so that they can use digital technologies in positive ways and are better prepared to cope with potentially harmful online situations. This will help contribute to their general wellbeing [8]. 

• Provide young people themselves with concrete tips on how to navigate online and take care of their mental health and wellbeing. You can find plenty of resources for your students online, for instance, in the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) platform or in UNICEF. Some useful examples can be “5 ways to better mental health online” developed by UNICEF [9] or the “Managing your online wellbeing” by Webwise.