Our “emotional backpack” holds all sorts of feelings, beliefs, and experiences that impact our mental health at school and capacity to function effectively.
Here’s how school staff can manage their own backpack, as well as support students who are so overloaded that they struggle to learn.
Students and Staff Carry Emotional Baggage That Hinders Learning
Students carry around a lot of emotional baggage that affects their behavior and their academic performance. And school staff members have their own baggage that can hinder their ability to teach and support students.
You may have heard the term emotional backpack used to describe the baggage that we all bring to school. The contents of the emotional backpack could be isolated stressors like an argument at home, a bad night’s sleep, or not eating breakfast. Or they could be ongoing issues like trauma, abuse, or even physical illness or injury.
Others can’t see what’s inside your backpack. And it can get heavy: imagine a bag loaded down with rocks, some tiny pebbles, and others big boulders.
As educators, our goal is to help students learn what they need to succeed in school and in life. The weight of an overfilled emotional backpack (both our own and our students’) greatly complicates that task.
Here’s some advice to improve school mental health by recognizing and unloading our emotional backpacks.
Staff: Start by Managing Your Own Emotional Backpack
Chances are, you are familiar with the metaphor of putting the oxygen mask on yourself before assisting someone else on an airplane. The same concept applies to the emotional backpack: you can’t be emotionally available to help someone else if you’re weighed down yourself.
Be aware of your burdens. You can begin to lessen the weight of your backpack by becoming more conscious of it. Take some time to consider the “rocks” you are carrying around and how they may be impacting your reactions to students and your interactions with them. That awareness can sometimes be enough to shift your thinking and behavior in critical moments.
Talk about the contents. Pushing emotions and experiences down and not dealing with them makes them heavier. It can really help to talk with a supportive friend or a counselor when you are feeling overwhelmed.
Leave your backpack in the car. Another tactic is to actively resolve to put down your baggage before interacting with students. This takes practice but can be surprisingly effective. TIP: Try adopting a transition ritual every day before you enter the school building, such as a quick meditation or listening to your favorite song.
Signs That a Student’s Backpack is Overloaded
The next step is recognizing when students are emotionally overwhelmed and need help lightening their load. Teachers, social workers, nurses, and other school staff can learn to notice the following signs:
Facial Expressions and Body Language
Does the student look uncharacteristically (or even chronically) angry, sad, fearful, or blank? Are they avoiding eye contact?
Changes in Behavior and Energy Level
Is a normally attentive student suddenly sleeping in class? Or a usually quiet child suddenly bouncing off the walls?
Irritability and Agitation
Does the student snap at the smallest frustration, or show physical agitation symptoms like fidgeting or rocking?
Work Refusal
Does the student refuse to participate in class or complete assignments? Is the student skipping class or frequently asking to go to the bathroom or the nurse?
Absences
Has the student had a string of absences without a medical or other reason?
How to Help a Student Unload Their Emotional Backpack
Teachers (and most school staff members) are not mental health experts. But that doesn’t mean you can’t help students lighten their emotional burdens so they can be more successful in school. Here’s how to approach a student that you’re concerned about.
- Be curious. Pay attention to your students’ emotional states. When something changes and seems troubling, try to engage the student to find out more. You want to do this in a non-obtrusive way that’s not threatening to the student.
- Ask in the right way. Don’t ask “What’s wrong?” That can make a student get defensive and shut down. Instead, try “Something’s different with you today” or “I wonder what’s happening.”
- Monitor your tone. Don’t let your tone suggest that you’re accusing or frustrated with the student. Try to keep it neutral. Avoid sarcasm, which is often misinterpreted and can make things worse.
- Check in regularly. When you know a student is struggling, don’t hover, but make it a point to monitor how they are doing.
- Teach emotional regulation strategies. There are many techniques teachers can use to help kids overcome emotional issues in the classroom, including distraction and immersion in something they enjoy, like play.
Learn more: Emotional Dysregulation: 5 Interventions for Students and Staff
Little by little, you can help your students remove the small pebbles and even some of the bigger rocks from their emotional backpacks. As they become empowered to self-regulate their emotions, you’ll find that their burdens seem lighter and their capacity to learn has grown.
Supporting Mental Health at School: 3 Ways to Get Help
Providing support for mental health at school may be new to you, and it may seem overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be. Here are 3 types of services that can help:
Professional Development
Train your teachers and other staff on how to recognize the most common mental health issues and how to respond appropriately and effectively. It’s not expensive or time-consuming, and the payoff can be enormous.
Coaching for School Staff
Your staff members who must manage struggling students (and families) can receive coaching and mentorship from experienced mental health professionals to get help with difficult cases and ongoing strategies and tactics. This service can help you build a more supportive climate and culture at your school.
Mental Health Clinicians Embedded in the School
Placing an experienced mental health practitioner in your school can reduce the load on teachers, social workers, and other staff. Students get a dedicated, expert counselor who can provide effective support even outside school hours. This pays for itself when you can avoid sending students to out-of-district therapeutic programs.
