We mostly think of school as a way to educate our children in things like math, reading, and writing. But for our world’s children, school is about a lot more than that.
School is a place where kids can build relationships with their peers and learn how to navigate them. It’s a place where they can feel supported by adults who believe in them. It’s where they can start discovering who they are, and where they learn important life skills that will serve them throughout their lives.
Although academics are absolutely an important part of your school’s curriculum, it’s important to focus on students’ social emotional well-being, too.
This is especially true today, when our nation’s children are suffering from worse mental health than ever. Between a worldwide pandemic, the threat of mass shootings, and other stressors of childhood, our kids need support.
Focusing on social emotional well-being at school can help provide that support.
What is Social Emotional Well-Being?
Social emotional well-being, or social emotional health, is a measure of health that affects every aspect of child development. To put it simply, it’s about how well a child can manage their emotions and build safe and healthy relationships.
Social health and emotional health are often put together (as “social emotional health”) because they’re so intricately connected. When kids are able to build healthy attachments with caring adults in their lives, they’re more likely to be able to learn how to manage strong emotions. The reverse is also true: When kids know how to express their emotions in a healthy way, they're more likely to be able to build solid relationships.
Why is Social Emotional Well-Being Important for Students?
Social emotional well-being is one of the most important areas of focus while children are developing. When students have strong social emotional well-being, they also tend to have:
- Better academic performance
- Stronger self-image and self-esteem
- Better relationships
- Better oral/speech development
- Less behavioral problems
- Better physical health
- More positive outcomes in adulthood, including employment
Your students’ brains are developing at a rapid rate. They’re learning everything all at once — from important dates in history class to math equations to how to make and sustain friendships. Experts say that it’s impossible to separate social and emotional learning from the rest of it. It’s all interconnected, and every component (social, emotional, and academic) of growth is essential to the learning process.
Promoting Social Emotional Well-Being in Schools
The most common way that school districts promote their students’ social emotional health is by implementing a social emotional learning (SEL) program. Studies that have measured the impact of SEL programming on students have found that it helps students:
- Become more engaged in learning
- Have a better attitude about learning
- Have fewer absences
- Achieve better academically
- Show increased prosocial behavior
- Show less aggressive behaviors
If your district doesn’t already have some sort of SEL program for your students, consider implementing one. It can take some time for it to successfully get off the ground, but the benefits are worth it.
Calm Classroom’s school-based mindfulness program is easy to incorporate into existing SEL programming. Get in touch with us to learn more about how mindfulness can help with your school’s wellness and SEL goals.
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