Addressing Mental Health Issues in 21st Century Learners

Education in the 21st century comes with its own set of challenges. Learners are under constant pressure to perform academically, to have clearly defined future goals, to score well in competitive exams, to secure admission to elite institutions, and to carve out flourishing careers for themselves. Outside of school, too, there can be social and familial circumstances and exigencies that may create stress in children at a young age.

Teachers, by virtue of being instructors, knowledge facilitators, guides, and confidantes, have a responsibility to keenly observe the development of learners and watch out for any worrying signs of a lack of mental and emotional health. Parents, likewise, have their tasks cut out to make sure that their children don’t buckle under the pressures of successfully chasing academic scores or meeting lofty expectations. This collective responsibility needs to be fulfilled in earnest if we are to give our children a harmonious development from childhood to adolescence to teenage and adulthood.

The reality, alas, is far from what we wish for. A very recent survey entitled Mental Health and Well-Being of School Students, conducted in 2022 by NCERT under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, reveals a slew of challenges that children face from primary to the middle to secondary levels of education. Conducted among 3,79,842 students from 28 Indian states and 8 Union Territories, the survey is a sobering /reminder of the issues all stakeholders have to work on in order to ensure mental and emotional health in students.

Some of the key findings of the survey are as follows:

Advertisement

• 50% of the respondents admitted to feeling anxiety because of studies.
• 31% reported feeling anxious because of examination stress and results.
• Only 15% of the students said they didn’t feel anxiety because of academic performance.
• 45% of the total responses mentioned feeling tired and low on energy, 34%
• felt tearful, and 27% felt lonely 2-3 times a week.
• As the students move from the middle stage of school education to the secondary stage they expressed greater anxiety because of studies, examinations, and results.
• In the case of online learning, 39% of students expressed concern over the lack of interaction with peers.
• Only 17% found offline classes to be better than online classes. A meager 5% of students felt that the online mode helps in better learning.
• On the bright side, as many as 67% of respondents expressed feeling positive emotions. But this percentage declines as students move from the middle to the second stage of learning.

These findings reiterate the need to focus on mental health issues faced by students in today’s technology-driven and hyper-competitive learning ecosystems and social environments. They reflect the major challenges children encounter as they develop cognitive, logical, and analytical faculties, self-reflective skills, and self-regulation abilities and forge social-emotional bonding within and outside of school. Moving up from primary to secondary grades they feel greater anxiety to perform academically while managing comparison with and competition from peers in classrooms. They have to continuously adapt to changing roles, responsibilities, and relationships.

Manifestations of Mental Stress and Disorder

Mental and emotional health are intertwined and extremely significant for a child’s growth. Since schools are the centers of learning where children develop cognitive, social-emotional, and physical faculties, it’s incumbent upon teachers, principals, and parents to look for signs of any discrepancy in the learner’s development.

A few indicators pointing towards a lack of mental health in a child are:

• Radical changes in behavior
• Sudden mood swings
• Change in eating habits
• Frequent tantrums, expression of anger, irritation
• The tendency towards violence or vandalism
• Withdrawal from social life or increasing aloofness
• Lack of interest in studies, homework, going to school
• Substance abuse, intoxication, and alcohol consumption
• Sleeplessness or loss of weight
• Recalcitrance, disobedience, stubborn refusal to follow instructions
• Low self-esteem or lack of confidence

These manifestations may be signs of anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, autism spectrum disorder, and burnout. Upon identification of these mental health issues in children, teachers, school staff, counselors, and parents must work in tandem to find solutions.

Interventions to Ensure Mental Health

1. Mental Health Programmes: school mental health programmes must be strengthened in educational institutions across the country. These programs may be targeted at making health awareness central to the school curriculum. Schools must periodically organize workshops for students, teachers, and parents to address concerns around the child and adolescents’ mental and emotional health.
2. Better collaboration between schools and mental health practitioners: educational institutions need to forge a strong community connection to address issues of mental health in learners. One of these may be better collaboration between schools and mental health practitioners, psychologists, psychotherapists, and counselors from the community.
3. Change in Attitudes: There needs to be a widespread change in the attitude towards mental health issues. We have to de-stigmatize the perception of mental disorders. Teachers and parents need to be sensitized to adopt a broad-minded attitude and encourage children to open up about mental health problems they may be facing. Special teacher training modules on the identification and intervention of children with psychological disorders will equip educators with the know-how and right attitude toward resolving mental health issues.
4. Customized Counselling: Schools must create a dedicated resource for psycho-emotional counseling of children and parents. Such initiatives help children to develop mental resilience, stress tolerance, and better control over emotions and behavior.

The Final Word

National Education Policy 2020 stresses ensuring the mental health and well-being of learners in order to promote their holistic development.  This growth can only be ensured through a harmonious blend of knowledge, skills, competencies, values, ethics, and an unflagging zeal for lifelong learning. The overarching requisite to achieve this aim is good health, encompassing physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Advertisement

Schools, teachers, and parents have to be proactive in helping learners develop adaptability and resilience for better management of physical and mental health.

Author – Manju Rana, Director of Schools, Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Schools

Advertisement