Children’s mental health a crisis

Teachers need help dealing with students who are a threat to themselves and others

Teachers are not police. Nor are they trained counsellors. They are not emergency responders. The strain in our system is profound.

We are facing a mental health crisis in this country, and that crisis is very much reflected in our schools. There is no age barrier. The crisis is alive and well in classes from JK to Grade 12. As a society, as a school system, even as individuals, we are not prepared to deal with mental health issues. Pretending they don’t exist is not really an option, yet it seems to be the go-to approach. No one wants to talk too openly about these things.

Talk to any teacher you know and you’ll hear about it. The kids who are self-harming. Not eating. Depressed. Abused. Self-medicating. Struggling with anxiety. Any high school counsellor or viceprincipal will tell you their days are filled with these sad stories. It is an epidemic.

Ask any elementary school teacher about things they have seen and a disturbing picture begins to emerge. There is the kid who runs away. The kid who is so potentially violent there is an evacuation plan for all the OTHER students in the room. The kid who has assaulted staff. The kid who grabs a dangerous object and becomes a threat to anyone nearby.

Teachers are dealing with these things on a daily basis. The question is: How much can we expect of the classroom teacher? When a police officer arrives on scene and will not deal with the trouble until backup arrives, this becomes a critical question. Teachers are putting themselves in harm’s way while armed police will not respond until they have support. Yes, they are following protocol. But there really is no protocol for teachers. They respond instinctively. They do what they can to ensure the safety of the children in their charge, at their own peril.

The concern teachers have in these situations extends far beyond a fear of being physically injured. We are told, by our union, by our boards and our administrations “DO NOT TOUCH A CHILD!” This for fear of being accused by a parent and possibly facing an investigation by the College Of Teachers.

How then do I respond to the child who is an imminent threat to themselves or others? Whose safety takes precedence: the aggressive child, all the other children, the teacher or EA? These are the difficult questions teachers are facing. So, if there are multiple incidents on a weekly or daily basis occurring in a school, you can only imagine the level of stress in that building.

Teachers are not police. Nor are they trained counsellors. They are not emergency responders. The strain in our system is profound. It needs to be addressed. There are kids out there who, quite simply, are not safe in a public setting. They are a risk to themselves, to other children and school staff.

This is not a call to simply purge suffering children from our schools. But we need to acknowledge they are there. We need to have comprehensive strategies in place that acknowledge all children are affected by traumatic events that occur regularly.

I have heard a parent speak of the effects of their child witnessing a frightening event at school. Her question: “What about the mental health of my child?”

The stress is palpable in many of our schools. Teachers are burdened by their inability to cope with the unreasonable demands placed upon them in impossible situations.

For the safety of our children and teachers, we need to address this crisis with our eyes wide open. And soon! It will cost money. But we don’t want to be in the position of reacting after something happens and the finger pointing and lawsuits begin. We know the problems are there. Let’s start talking about them, honestly and openly.

Don’t our children deserve it?