This week at Edge Grove we are considering children’s mental health as part of the national focus on this important issue. In the media we hear of rising rates of mental health issues in young people and the charity, Young Minds, has published figures stating that one in six children aged five to 16 were identified as having a probable mental health problem in July 2020, a huge increase from one in nine in 2017.
As parents and educators we can support children by creating opportunities to talk about feelings and emotions, and reading a book and making a character the focus of our discussions, can make some thoughts easier to share. It can be comforting for children to read in books that characters face the same feelings and challenges that they experience. From time to time, we can all face situations that impact our mental health: issues such as dealing with long-term illness amongst family and friends, bereavement, separation of parents, moving schools or others being unkind. It is at these moments where books can help us all.
Here are some lists of recommended texts for primary classrooms on the topic of mental health: https://www.booksfortopics.com/mental-health
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/m/mental-health-awareness/
You can also read a helpful interview from Tom Percival, the author of Ruby’s Worry, who suffered with anxiety as a young person. He says, "We encourage our kids to eat healthily and get enough exercise, so it makes sense that we also help them to understand their emotional wellbeing and focus on exploring ways to improve mental health."
The interview can be found here.
LGBT History Month is also held in February every year. We can help our children become more understanding and empathetic to the diversity of the world we live in by introducing them to characters in books whose lives and experiences may be different from their own. Books can also be a place where children see themselves represented and can be an important way of making them feel accepted and valued. Again, I have published a range of reading lists where age-appropriate books promoting understanding can be found. The links can be found below: https://tra-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/entries/document/5644/The_Reading_Agency_s_February_Booklist_for_Children_and_Young_People_-_LGBT%2B_History.pdf
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/l/lgbt-picture-books/
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/news-and-features/features/2018/february/lgbtq-books-for-children-aged-8-12/
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/booklists/t/transgender-and-non-binary-characters/ Here are this month’s recommendations from The Reader Teacher, Scott Evans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTj4-HEb6U8