Two out of five students need psychological support – 03/31/2023 – Education

A Datafolha survey points out that two out of five students in Brazil need psychological support, and that the group also has difficulties controlling emotions such as anger and frustration. Those who study in schools that offer this support and use the services say they are more integrated, happier in their daily lives and more involved with the school environment.

The survey, released in March of this year, was carried out by Datafolha at the request of the Lemann Foundation, Itaú Social and the Inter-American Development Bank IDB. The objective was to map the vision of families and students about the first year of returning to school after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey heard 1,323 guardians of students and 1,863 students aged between six and 18 enrolled in municipal and state public schools, primary and secondary education.

The need for psychological support is the main issue reported by students (40%), according to the survey, followed by difficulty controlling emotions such as anger or frustration (38%), unpreparedness for school activities (34%) and difficulty maintaining routine studies.

In general, these problems were reported by more family members in the latest survey, compared to the previous survey in May. According to the survey, 44% of schools offer support – 23% of students in these places said they had used the services.

To face mental health problems, the main obstacles are the lack of enough professionals for psychological support (62%), experiences to teach how to deal with emotions and privacy protection for students with problems (both with 11%).

For Daniel de Bonis, director of knowledge, data and research at the Lemann Foundation, issues such as bullying, less integrated students or students with family problems find better support at school, but others require a capacity beyond what is offered.

“We have seen that themes of depression, violent episodes and substance abuse generate a contingent that is beyond the ability of the school to resolve itself.”

He says that teachers can help when trained for mediation, conflict resolution, but that the solution requires a public policy with psychologists and social workers integrated into the teaching networks.

The survey also points out that those responsible for the students elected education (78%) as a government priority, with an advantage over health (66%) and public safety (21%). According to Bonis, this may be a reflection of the closure of schools during the most restrictive phase of the pandemic.

“The pandemic brought the family closer to the educational process, because when schools closed, we realized the size and complexity of it.”

In relation to extreme events, such as the attack on the Thomazia Montoro school, in São Paulo, society needs to show that it is on the side of the school, says Bonis. For him, this is done with public health and safety policies integrated into the education networks.