Students’ mental health is a concern when back to school – 01/29/2023 – Education

After two years of in-person classes interrupted by the pandemic, the expectation was that the 2022 school year would resume normal school relations. Schools, however, were faced with an unprecedented situation of difficulties in socializing and mental exhaustion of students. Therefore, mental health is seen as the main concern in this return to school.

In addition to the consequences of isolation from the pandemic, the learning difficulties accumulated during this period brought anxiety, frustration and stress to students. To avoid a repetition of this situation, schools prepare themselves to better work with emotional issues.

“Last year was still very atypical. A year in which I saw many students struggling at school, which generated a lot of stress and suffering. They reached the end of the year with difficulty passing, changing schools to pass the year. And , this brings an important development for this school year”, says psychiatrist Gustavo Estanislau, specialist in childhood and youth.

For him, frustration with school results tends to accompany students in this upcoming school year of 2023. A situation that is aggravated, after the pandemic, when many children and young people lost autonomy and security to deal with the common challenges of this phase.

“The gap is a reality in all schools and regions of the country, but it is no use pouring content and pressure on students. It is necessary to make demands and school challenges more flexible so that they gain confidence and can move forward”, he says.

The director of a school in the south zone of São Paulo, known for its good results in the main entrance exams in the country, told Sheetunder the condition of anonymity, that the teachers themselves asked for more autonomy to administer the school contents because they realized that the students were not following along.

According to him, the teachers followed the school’s recommendations to maintain the pace of previous years and realized that students were getting frustrated and discouraged by not keeping up. He said that, at the end of the year, he noticed a much higher number of young people diagnosed with depression or anxiety.

The principal assesses that not all cases are related to school problems, but recognizes that the school cannot adopt a posture that could aggravate these conditions. Therefore, he said that the college will offer more artistic and sports activities and has reinforced the number of psychologists.

Psychologist Mara Rossi, who has been working with teenagers in the pre-university entrance phase for 15 years, claims to have received, at the end of 2022, many cases of students with symptoms of burnout due to school demands and extra activities.

“These are teenagers who have a full schedule, wake up and go to sleep with a series of activities: school, tutoring, English course, writing, physical activity. Everything becomes a charge. There is no room left for rest and leisure, which are needed at all ages”, he says.

For her, not only schools should be aware of overcharging, but, above all, families.

Luciene Tognetta, PhD in School Psychology from USP, also highlights the importance of families approaching and working in partnership with schools to promote a healthier school environment.

For her, the pressure on schools for educational results often comes from a demand from parents to offer the best education for their children. However, she says that it is necessary to look at education in a broader way.

“Good results are not just those that take a young person to a renowned university. Good educational results are those that form healthy people, who will know how to live in society. Families also need to value this.”

For specialists, it is essential that schools find spaces and times to work on socio-emotional issues and for students to relax. They recognize, however, that this is a challenge since schools are increasingly required to offer more content and disciplines.

The new high school law, for example, provides for a 25% increase in class time across the country.

“These are very welcome policies, but they are being implemented in the wrong way. In practice, they are following the opposite path of what developed countries do. They take away the living spaces to put more content. This will not be reflected in better performance , but more stress and lack of interest in school”, evaluates Tognetta.