With students doing remote learning these days it means they have more access to social media and news online.
They witness things like what happened in Washington DC on Wednesday and sometimes they have questions or are really affected by what they see.
John Howitt, Director of Education with the Lambton Kent District School Board, says current events can lead to a lot of questions, and can hit some children harder than others.
“One of the things the schools do for society is we’re able to monitor students’ safety and wellbeing, and provide services to support students who may be struggling with real world situations and scenarios that they’re seeing in repeated media loops,” Howitt says. “That becomes more difficult when it’s with remote learning, it’s a little more challenging to notice if students are withdrawing or seeking help or support around coming to terms with or understanding the events they are seeing happening out there, especially in places that would normally be deemed to be locations of safety.”
Deb Crawford, with the St. Clair Catholic District School Board, say there is help out there.
“There is information on our board website, there’s a number you can text for immediate contact, numbers to call, as well as teachers have all additional materials for online learning for support mental health and wellbeing,” Crawford says. “We are considered with the additional isolation of students when they’re learning from home.”
Both boards have a list of mental health resources on their respective websites.
LKDSB: https://www.lkdsb.net/Board/Community/MentalHealth/Pages/default.aspx#/=
SCCDSB: https://www.st-clair.net/mental-health-home.aspx