Here's 1 way Windsor-Essex schools are making student mental health a priority
Windsor-Essex public health unit uses Decider Life Skills program to teach socio-emotional skills
When classmates Yousif Sarheed and Carson Macioce get overwhelmed, they think of "the fizz."
An orange soda in a clear plastic bottle, "the fizz" gets bubbly and foamy when shaken. It's a physical representation of how someone might feel when they're bursting with emotion.
The students refer to "the fizz" when their feelings are intense, and they're reminded to take steps to calm down.
Carson, 10, told CBC News that when he feels frustrated, he's learning to take a deep breath and talk about his feelings, rather than let his emotions bubble over.
These are tips that the students are picking up from a new program — the Decider Life Skills Program — that their Grade 4-5 class at W.J. Langlois Catholic Elementary School is taking part in.
"It's helping me take a breath and not put too much pressure on the other person," Carson told CBC News about what he's learning.
The program, which was developed in the United Kingdom, is currently being rolled out in all school boards across the region by nurses from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU). The health unit hopes the program will teach kids to identify, monitor and regulate their emotions.
And it comes as young people continue to struggle with their mental health post-pandemic.
In Windsor-Essex, mental health experts say that wait times are still up for youth looking for counselling and that those reaching out for support are finding it difficult to regulate their emotions, maintain friendships and manage their personal lives.
Carson's mom, Candace Macioce, says like many others, the pandemic really impacted the 10-year-old.
"COVID impacted Carson as well as many others, hugely," she said, adding that she saw him regress when it came to his education, social life and handling his emotions.
"He was very quick to get upset, to get angry at home, with friends, with siblings or to just even break down and cry and the response being, 'I don't know why, I'm not sure why,'" she said.
Health unit says mental health is a priority
The WECHU first piloted the program between January and May 2023. At the time, students from grades 4 to 7 in four different schools took part.
Since then, the program has expanded.
By the end of this school year, 32 schools across the region and more than 1,500 students will have taken part. The lessons are twice a week for five weeks.
"One of the main priorities the health unit's been working on is mental health, so we found this program that teaches socio-emotional learning skills," said WECHU's health promotion specialist Ashely Kirby.
Following the pilot, Kirby says they found that students in Grades 4-5 would benefit the most.
Public health nurse Stacey Lanoue teaches the program in some of the schools. She says that she has heard from principals and teachers that these lessons have been helpful for students especially since COVID-19.
"I think if [the kids] know how to recognize what they're feeling and they're able to come up with a solution to how they're feeling to get a better outcome for themselves, I think that's what's most important," Lanoue said.
WATCH: Students talk about what they've learned through the program
Some strategies students are learning about include one called Right Now, where students who are feeling overly emotional calm themselves down by naming things that they can see or hear as a way to bring them back into the present moment.
Important to build emotional intelligence at young age: local expert
Elementary school teacher Samantha Maybee says she notices her students are applying the skills they're learning, specifically during recess.
She says Grades 4 and 5 is the right time for students to learn how to be more self-aware.
"They're getting more exposed to social media, peer pressure is entering, puberty is also around the corner, so they have a lot of different emotions going on from all different avenues: home, school and puberty," she said.
The earlier that kids learn to talk and deal with their emotions, the better, says Zahra Abou Elhassan, a bilingual mental health and addictions worker at the Youth Wellness Hub.
The Hub is a project through the Canadian Mental Health Association and it offers supports to young people, including walk-in counselling services for people between the ages of 12 and 25.
Abou Elhassan says she's noticed that the young people she counsels are struggling a lot after COVID-19, specifically with managing their emotions.
"Working on healthy emotional and social development in our early years lays the foundation for mental health and resilience throughout our lifespan," she said.
"So the more that you're able to ... learn how to emotionally regulate is really the key to success in the future, because it also creates emotional intelligence."
Moving forward, the health unit says it plans to continue to improve the program, specifically by adding in more parent engagement.
As for Carson, his mom says she can tell he's becoming more positive.
"It's nice to see him step back and recognize and be more self-aware of how he's feeling," she said.
"It makes me feel happy and proud that he has those skills in his tool belt."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
