(StatePoint) From schoolwork and homework to friendships and extracurriculars to potentially dealing with difficult situations like bullying, there is a lot for kids to navigate during the school year.
Fortunately, efforts are being made to provide tools that help protect kids’ mental health—and parents and teachers can be proactive about getting involved.
Preventing Bullying
Bullying is a direct cause of mental health issues and can be one of the major stressors kids face both at school and after hours due to the rise in cyberbullying. It’s important that children treat each other with compassion, as unkind words and actions can have devastating effects on the long-term wellbeing of classmates.
Celebrating 10 years, Pilot Pen’s “Erase Bullying for Good” initiative helps students, parents and teachers understand and stop bullying. Sales from Pilot’s FriXion Clicker erasable gel pens support STOMP Out Bullying, the nation’s leading nonprofit dedicated to this issue. In fact, Pilot’s contributions to anti-bullying organizations between 2015-2025 will equal over $650,000, helping fund a variety of initiatives that are making communities a safer place for students.
The campaign recommends these tips to help erase bullying before it starts at your child’s school:
• Advocate for the adoption of bullying prevention programs. This might include special teacher and faculty training, peer mentoring and “Bullying Boxes,” where students can file anonymous reports of bullying.
• Institute wellness rooms, which are safe spaces where students experiencing distress can retreat and relax.
• Ensure your school actively celebrates both diversity and differences, and that all students are respected and valued. Establish programs that teach empathy, tolerance, kindness, acceptance and conflict resolution.
• Ask your school to establish internet use guidelines to educate students and help stop after-hours cyberbullying.
• Teach kids about the difference between being a bystander – someone who watches bullying happen – and being an upstander – someone who intervenes when bullying is taking place. Encourage them to be an upstander when it feels safe to do so and to report bullying when they witness it.
If you’re experiencing bullying, or if you have a friend, child or student who is, lean on resources designed to help. Pilot’s “Erase Bullying for Good” campaign and STOMP Out Bullying provide tools to help you react effectively to bullying when it happens and learn what to do next. To access these resources, visit powertothepen.com/erase-bullying.
Navigating Emotions
It’s easy for students to get overwhelmed by the demands of their classes. Be sure that kids have the time and space outside of schoolwork to have fun, cultivate friendships and practice self-care.
Encourage hobbies like exercise, meditation, team sports and outlets for their creative expression like journaling, drawing and music. These activities can help kids build self-confidence and manage relationships; skills they need to be resilient in the face of stressful situations.
Parents can help by establishing open lines of communication and equipping kids with tools that can encourage them to express themselves more freely and help eliminate some homework-related frustration. FriXion erasable pens made with thermo-sensitive ink technology write smoothly and erase cleanly, giving students the power to write, erase and rewrite anything from term papers to poetry, without tedious rewrites and with less stress.
Cultivating kindness and compassion in communities and giving kids the tools they need to build their self-confidence helps protect students’ mental health and helps ensure everyone has a safe, healthy and successful school year.
Photo Credit: (c) seb_ra / iStock via Getty Images Plus
