Part 1: Introduction
Foreword:
The contents of this article cover the findings from an Inter-school Forum held on 15 and 16 June focusing on youth wellbeing. Various schools throughout Johannesburg, both public and private, were brought together to discuss youth wellbeing. In the spirit of Youth Day, it also addressed wellbeing in the context of South Africa’s education system.
St John’s College student organisers Lethokuhle Sikosana and Mlibo Mlonzi explained: “We wanted to formulate tangible and practical solutions that would promote emotional, physical and mental wellbeing in each of our schools. We also felt that there was a lack of student dialogue between schools and that, by bringing students from various backgrounds together, we could create the foundation for future student-led dialogue. This is by no means a complete roadmap to solving each of the issues identified but simply our reflections on the forum, and a departure point for our ideas on how to cultivate wellbeing.
“Typically wellbeing is only looked at either from an individual or community/collective scale, but we chose to integrate the many aspects of wellbeing in this forum. We also felt it was important to publicly broadcast these findings in order to increase the impact beyond the forum.”
Summary
The forum allowed students to explore the inequality in education that many students face in South Africa. The inequality starts with unequal access to basic safe amenities and resources, and this has had a direct and major impact on the quality of education at all stages of learning.
Additionally factors such as the impact of discrimination, strain from challenging household circumstances and lack of mental health support were explored. Some of the discussed impacts were low self-confidence, compromised learning and feelings of “otherness”. The students examined how all of the above affects their personal, relational and communal spaces of wellbeing and discussed how they relate to these spaces from their own departure points and environments. It was concluded that, to increase the performance of students in schools, general wellness needs to become a primary focus and safe spaces need to be created to ensure adequate support for all students.
Unpacking inequality
The highlighting and prevention of issues arising in schools because of inequality was examined. The discussion centered around how to prevent issues such as racism, religious discrimination and economic inequality from manifesting in schools. The question of how we empower individuals to be aware of and advocate for their health and wellbeing was raised and solutions were discussed. These involved identifying and recognising the problems and then implementing strategies in order to reduce the occurrence of these issues.
Questions such as “Why should POC students (specifically black students) move to previously and predominantly still white areas or schools to receive a quality education?” and “Why are there previously only black, and still predominantly black schools, in disadvantaged areas?” were raised. Despite the rhetoric of the desegregation of schools, many schools still remain segregated and unequal and continue to cater to the designated racial groups they had previously served during apartheid. Discussing an issue like inequality is extremely important, as it severely affects the wellbeing of the youth.
What are the different components of wellbeing
Before the forum could work on/address wellbeing in schools, the students needed to understand where these inequalities are experienced. Prilleltensky’s (2005) model of the four Ss of wellbeing, presented in his article Promoting wellbeing: Time for a paradigm shift in health and human services, was used as a method of identifying wellbeing or the lack thereof. The Ss are all divided into the categories of:
Sites: Where is wellbeing located?
Signs: What are the signs of whether wellbeing is being experienced, or if it is not;
Sources: What are the sources of wellbeing? Strategies: How do you, step-by-step, create a strategy/plan to create solutions to the previous Ss identified?
The three sites of wellbeing exist on the following
levels: personal, relational and communal. Each of these levels deal with an element of how students experience wellbeing, or a lack of it.
Personal level, which deals with:
• financial stability • spiritual wellbeing • mental health • emotional wellbeing.
Relational level, which deals with:
• family • friends • peers • partners.
Community level, which deals with:
• housing • education • healthcare.
Understanding and identifying the specific examples help in formulating strategies to approach the question better. These three sites help contextualise where wellbeing (or the lack thereof) is being experienced.
The exploration of the sites of wellbeing and their different components help contribute to the planning of strategies of a school centred around the wellbeing of its students.
Part 2: Different components of wellbeing and what we identified
Personal:
1. Signs
• Psychological or mental – Confidence/ lack of confidence, being focused, disciplined.
• Emotional – anxiety attacks, good self-esteem, sadness due to drop in performance, negative self-esteem. • Spiritual – A connection with something outside of oneself and whether that brings fulfilment.
• Physical – Eating habits, hygiene, how one
presents yourself, sleeping patterns.
2 Sources
Stress:
• Does a person have means to relieve stress (sport, friends, therapy, downtime)? If these means are missing or not working, why are they missing, and what can be done to fix this?
Financially:
• Is the financial status of the person
contributing to or detracting from their
wellbeing? For example transport, food/ lunch, school fees, “status”, opportunities and ability to do certain activities with friends and family.
Environment:
• Is the environment in which students are living and working (school/work and home) contributing to wellbeing?
• Are students being recognised for their achievements and efforts? Are they living in an environment that motivates them to want to achieve certain things?
Socially:
• The need to be “followed and liked” on social platforms can be detrimental to one’s wellbeing. Social media is polarising, shares opposing perceptions and can pressurise someone to conform to certain ideals in order to fulfil a need to be “liked” and fit in. Furthermore, the global nature of social media means that one’s actions and presence on social media have universal impacts, which can also have an impact on one’s wellbeing.
• Students have a school life, a social life, a private life and many other spheres of life in which they partake. To manage this and the expectations in each of these spheres can also have a negative influence on wellbeing.
3. Strategies
There are strategies that we can integrate into our daily lives that can make and impact and have a positive influence. These include things like having a platform for expression, means and safe spaces to relax, a loving support system, celebration and recognition of personal improvements or achievements, the ability to selfreflect and having some habits or routines that help relieve stress, maintain motivation and allow time for passions. Limiting and regulating social media use is another strategy that can positively impact wellbeing, although this is becoming increasingly trickier to do in our technologicallyreliant society; how does one reduce the constant comparisons and unrealistic expectations?
Relational
1. Signs
• Relational wellbeing is based on whether or not our social wants and needs are being met. The quality of our relationships in our day-to-day lives affects how we act, feel and present ourselves to other people.
Signs that relationships are positively affecting our wellbeing:
• Self-acceptance in a relationship • Mutual respect
• Solid boundaries
• Transparency and compassion within a
relationship.
Signs that relationships are negatively affecting our wellbeing:
• Withdrawal from group activities
• Taking part in dangerous activities such as
crime and drugs
• Isolating oneself from family and friends • Self-consciousness within a relationship • Change in behaviour (easily irritable,
depressed and anxious).
2. Source
• Family and friends – the pressure, competition or support received from a trusted circle
• Environment – living circumstances, place of work/school and people one surrounds oneself with
• Is a person receiving positive comments from their peers? Is the “ratio” of negative to supportive feedback from their peers a positive ratio?
• Academic environment – the way one
interacts with teachers and peers.
3. Strategies
A key strategy to achieve relational wellbeing is restorative justice between students after an incident. In a mediation setup, students are able to express themselves in a safe, managed and supportive environment in which they are free to learn and grow. Creating environments in which students can develop relationships across the grades (such as a buddy system) can resolve issues such as hierarchical bullying in schools. Lastly, a strategy to address familial relationships is family therapy. Having the objective opinion of a third party can be beneficial and liberating for all members of the family.
Community
1. Signs
Community wellbeing is a mixture of all aspects of our daily lives and how they impact our mental health. This includes social, economic, environmental, cultural or even political.
Signs of positive wellbeing in communities: • Positive emotions brought by one’s environment ( social, cultural or even economic)
• A sense of belonging and general comfort
within one’s community.
Signs of negative wellbeing in our communities • Negative emotions – feelings of stress,
anxiety and insecurity
• Unpleasant relationships
• Basic rights being disregarded
• Lack of service delivery.
2. Sources
Sources within the community:
• Media: It surrounds us and is easily accessible. The community we are surrounded by has a large impact on what we are exposed to (such as advertising and propaganda). By questioning what content we choose to seek out and what our communities expose us to on social media, we can better manage our wellbeing. • Inequality: The impact of race, gender, ethnicity and economic status on opportunities (such as careers, salaries and promotions). There is this veneer of the “Rainbow Nation”, yet we are still in a fight for equality for all.
• High performance and achievement culture: We live in a society where there is only space to succeed. People feel defined by their marks and achievements and fear mistakes instead of learning from them. This pressurising culture affects one relationally and personally and often leads to unhealthy competition in which people bring one another down.
• Religion: Within communities, these can have a positive or negative influence. The values that many religions hold can be incredible assets in building a safe and moral environment. However, in a recent workshop, it was interesting to hear how religion can also take a toll on those who feel rejected by that community.
• Cancel culture within schools: This refers to a form of ostracism in which an individual is shunned from certain