Amidst great uncertainty, children across Rhode Island returned to school in September. They entered familiar buildings to find alien circumstances. Buzzing hallways, casual hello’s during passing periods, social encounters at lockers, spontaneous gatherings over lunch, and games at recess have been replaced by strict processes and diagrammed movements. Meanwhile, many students remained as virtual learners, observing their friends and peers on screens from afar.
Everything has been scripted, sterilized, and separated for safety’s sake. It continues to feel unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and unnatural—because it is.
We need to create space to talk about this change with our students.
This is a time that requires us to act on behalf of our youth and to recognize the importance of their overall wellness. At Sophia Academy, many of our families were already managing financial hardship prior to the pandemic; the last months have piled on additional concerns: illness and loss, unemployment, food and housing insecurity, increased community violence.
Those of us who have embraced educating our youth must address the newness of our world, not just academic losses. More than anything, the value of school this year lies in working diligently and intentionally to provide children space to share about their lives, mourn what once was, and prepare for what is.
Those conversations do not happen in a single meeting, or through texts, emails, and slides. Rather, they occur through prioritizing relationships and holding regular and consistent spaces for students to process, verbalize, and integrate their experiences. The emotional impact of this pandemic is not yet fully understood and may not be for some time. We must work to lessen whatever negative emotional impacts will surface by providing the time and space to share and witness.
Last year at Sophia Academy, we created Student Support Circles. Co-led by a clinician and a restorative justice instructor, Circles became an essential and welcomed addition to the weekly curriculum. In the spirit of caring for our students’ social and emotional well-being and mental health, these intentional conversations fill an often-overlooked segment in the world of adolescent development.
Each group was designed to provide the structure and safety needed to withstand powerful emotions, to approach and address peer conflict and to share hidden traumas and stress. Talking about our inner lives is a skill that must be taught and learned just like math and science. These circles provide a structured space for our students to practice and to avoid internalizing the stress and trauma they have experienced. Mental wellness shifted from an add-on or opt-in service and transitioned to an integral part of their educational experience.
It is essential for every school in Rhode Island and beyond to create these spaces for students to share their feelings and experiences. Adopt them as part of advisory, home room or even in a classroom setting. Ask students to listen to each other, to find commonality, and to voice how their lives have changed. Let us meet this challenge head on and find opportunities to establish something that will inevitably make our educational spaces better for everyone.
Written by Rose Randall-Hicks, MSW, LICSW, Director of Student Support at Sophia Academy
Note: Interested in learning more about the impact of social emotional learning on a student’s success? This recent study, focusing in on 9th graders in Chicago Public Schools, examines the causal relationships between social emotional indicators and their longer term effects on student development.