WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - As most of our area's children prepare to enter their second or third week of the new school year, a local psychology expert is encouraging parents, their kids and teachers to communicate more when it comes to mental health.
Leandra Parris coordinates the School Psychology program at William & Mary's School of Education. Part of her research includes speaking with teachers about what they're seeing from students in the classroom.
“When I was talking to teachers, it’s just more than what they’ve had in the past," Parris told News 3 of the mental health concerns.
She says more children report struggling mentally and the start of school can be a confusing time, making those issues worse.
“Teachers are telling me ‘I can’t get to my lesson,’ or ‘I feel like I’m overlooking some really important red flags because I have to get to my lesson’ and so they’re supposed to refer to a school-based mental health professional and they do, but there’s not enough school-based mental health professionals," said Parris, who tells News 3 she's advocating for legislation to support more mental health resources and professionals in schools.
But, as it stands, Parris says communication between all parties at home and school is going to be key, in addition to watching for changes in behavior or feelings of hopelessness, which could indicate a deeper issue than typical anxiety over the new school year.
“Having those conversations where we normalize asking for help or talking about struggles that we’re having," said Parris. “I love (how at) a lot of local school districts, the teachers are saying ‘just send me a message, ‘handle with care,’ so I know your child’s having a hard day.'”
Parris also suggests limiting social media and screen time among children to lessen the influence of the outside world on their mental health.
Making sure you have the parental controls on, obviously. And then doing things together with technology to make technology more of a family way of going about it," she said.
News 3 recently discussed mental health at a town hall meeting with WHRO and iHeart Radio. Click HERE for to watch.
