The beginning of the school year brings stress to students and teachers alike. They lack the tools to deal with it

Starting school means stress for many schoolchildren, as well as teachers. The sight of the school regime, long hours of sitting at desks and cramming does not appeal to children. Czech children are anxious, exhausted, or, conversely, restless and inattentive as a result of school attendance. One in five young people in the population suffers from a mental illness. Teachers are no better off, half of them (50%) are directly at risk of burnout. A survey by SEMwell showed that both children and teachers lack the tools and skills to deal with stress.

The situation in Czech schools is alarming. Compared to the international average, Czech students do not have a good relationship with school and are the least likely to enjoy going to school out of all OECD countries. There is a lack of emphasis on mental health, with almost no programs to prevent depression, anxiety, harmful stress, and suicide. Neglecting children's mental health has consequences in the form of poor achievement, challenging behavior, bullying, self-harm, broken relationships, and even suicide.

" Some teachers still believe that stress at school is training for stressful situations in adulthood, but they do not provide students with enough techniques to cope with stress. In addition, there is sometimes a prevailing idea that students achieve higher performance under stress," said a respondent, a representative of a high school, who answered an online questionnaire survey conducted by the SEMwell organization from August to September 2022.

“We reached out to 11,690 preschool and school facilities in the Czech Republic. We received 228 completed questionnaires back. The survey focused on supporting wellbeing and mental health in kindergartens as well as primary and secondary schools,” says SEMwell founder Jana Kyriakou about the survey, which aimed to map key needs in this area.

We can't cope with stress, teachers admit

Although teachers are interested in the topic of mental health, most do not have the capacity to deal with it. When asked “What is your attitude towards the topic of supporting mental health and resilience in children/pupils/students and teachers?”, an average of 42% of respondents said that they are interested in the topic and that they educate themselves on it in their free time. 28% of respondents feel that the topic is important, but do not have the capacity to do so. 24% are interested in the topic and work with it in their lessons, and 17% would welcome more support in education on this topic from the school.

Of the total responses , 69% of respondents said that children do not have enough tools/skills to work with stress and anxiety. 71% of teachers said that they themselves do not have enough tools/skills to work with stress and anxiety for practical use .

More than half of respondents are not familiar with or do not use online tools to support mental health (e.g. Nepanikař, VOS, Calmio). The Nepanikař application is the most widely used in practice, especially in secondary schools (70% of respondents).

Almost three quarters of all respondents pointed out that kindergartens/schools do not use professional materials to support the mental health of children/pupils and teachers. When asked whether teachers work with a mindfulness approach in their classrooms, 87% of respondents answered that they do not use this approach.

Why is wellbeing and mental health support important in education?

A major revision of the Framework Educational Programmes (FEP) is also to introduce an emphasis on so-called wellbeing (a feeling of physical and mental well-being) into school teaching. The problem is that few people know exactly what “wellbeing” is and how to actually teach it. The Partnership for Education 2030+ Working Group defines wellbeing as: a state in which we can fully develop our physical, cognitive, emotional, social and spiritual potential in a supportive and stimulating environment and live a full and satisfying life together with others.

Its systemic support in education is also one of the priorities of the Strategy for Educational Policy of the Czech Republic until 2030. Many studies show that caring for wellbeing leads to a significant improvement in the social and emotional skills and educational outcomes of students. It also significantly contributes to reducing the incidence of challenging behavior and bullying (ČOSIV.cz).

The mission of SEMwell is to support the wellbeing, mental well-being and resilience of children, adolescents and adults through the development of mindfulness. “Our goal is to support the well-being of children and adolescents in kindergartens and schools, as well as educators, in the long term,” says SEMwell founder and certified mindfulness instructor Jana Kyriakou.

The positive results of developing mindfulness are documented by numerous scientific studies.

The advantage of mindfulness is that we can start developing it at any age. Its cultivation will always be beneficial for us. For educators, it supports stress reduction and increases self-confidence. For children, it contributes to a positive sense of self, autonomy and security. For everyone, it contributes to better emotional management, strengthening a holistic and empathetic perception of oneself and others.

Source: SEMwell.org

Read more about mindfulness and its benefits for children and adolescents HERE .

You can learn more about wellbeing in Czech education HERE .

Author: Veronika Veselá