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A28 u.s. news
Diamars 21 December 2021

Schools use therapy-based programs for ‘overwhelmed’ kids

don’t want to do it anymore.” given some tools to work with kids
around social, emotional skills.”
“I think we’re starting to see some of
the effects of the past few years,” he Some parents have questioned the
said. “The extra stresses of not know- approach, arguing that their kids are
ing what’s next and not knowing if “well-regulated” and don’t need it.
we’re going to have school because And some mistakenly think social
we have too many cases or not know- and emotional learning is somehow
ing if another variant has come in or related to a method of understanding
not knowing if somebody has a job American racism called critical race
still.” theory.
Clark said the psychology-focused Harbaugh doesn’t back down.
program the district has adopted,
dubbed “TRAILS” by its University “We’re very direct in saying we know
of Michigan creators, is helping ev- this is good for kids. The research is
(AP) — On a windy Decem- where are increasingly teaching social eryone manage the challenges. there,” he said.
ber morning in rural southwest and emotional learning skills, many
Michigan, an American flag use a more piecemeal approach, cre- “We can’t control what’s coming at Studies have shown that social and
flapped at half-staff outside Paw ating a designated class for talking us, but we can control how we re- emotional learning programs can
Paw Early Elementary School. A about feelings, or focusing that atten- spond to it,” Clark said. improve academic performance,
social worker with a miniature tion only on the most troubled kids. classroom behavior and stress man-
therapy dog named Trixie offered Many lack funding and resources to Abby Olmstead, a dark-haired, dark- agement. Research also suggests
comfort at the entry doors. adopt the kind of comprehensive ap- eyed 10-year-old girl with a splash of TRAILS lessons for at-risk kids can
proach that Paw Paw and its neigh- freckles across her nose, says the fin- reduce depression and improve cop-
Children wearing face masks scam- bor schools are attempting, weaving ger-breathing exercise calms her and ing skills.
pered off buses into the morning evidence-based psychology methods that working with Clark “has been
chill, some stooping to pet the shaggy into the curriculum and involving all helping me a lot.” Almost 700 U.S. schools have paid
pup before ambling inside. students and staff. contracts to receive support and
“He always makes me laugh when implement the program. Its website
Like kids in so many cities and towns Effective social and emotional learn- I have anxiety, and that’s not a bad provides free online materials that are
around the globe, the youngsters in ing doesn’t happen “only at cer- thing,” she said. downloaded more than 2,000 times
Michigan’s Van Buren Intermediate tain times of the day or with certain daily, and users come from all over
School District have been through a people,” it should be reflected in all Her mom, Dawn Olmstead, said the world, said Elizabeth Koschmann,
lot these past few years. A relentless school operations and practices, said Abby struggled with online school a University of Michigan researcher
pandemic that continues to disrupt Olga Acosta Price, director of the na- last year and is learning how to better who developed the program. Those
classrooms, sicken friends and loved tional Center for Health and Health manage her frustrations. downloads have skyrocketed during
ones, and has left some district fami- Care in Schools. With disruptions the pandemic.
lies jobless and homeless. Three stu- from the pandemic so widespread, “I definitely approve of what they’re
dent suicide attempts since in-person that kind of approach is needed “now doing for social and emotional learn- She said schools contact her almost
school resumed full-time this fall, more than ever,” she said. ing,” Olmstead said. “If that was not daily, asking “how how they can pos-
two student suicides last year. And there, you couldn’t get down to the sibly keep up with students who are
now, a deadly shooting just two days As second-graders at Paw Paw Early basics for my own daughter.” falling apart, staff who are losing mo-
earlier at a school a few hours away. Elementary sat crossed-legged on rale and experiencing tremendous
the floor on this December day, they More than 1,000 district employees, burnout, and just a pervasive sense
But with an infusion of federal CO- received an introduction from their even bus drivers, have received train- of exhaustion, despair, and hopeless-
VID relief money and state funding teacher and a video presentation, ing in the program. ness.”
this year plus a belief among local learning how to identify, manage and
school officials that kids can’t suc- reframe “big” feelings like anxiety, “From the superintendent on down Evidence supporting the need for
ceed academically if they are strug- anger and sadness. to every staff person, we have said more attention to students’ mental
gling emotionally, every child in this you need to know what makes kids well-being is plentiful.
district’s 11 schools is receiving extra The youngsters were given an exam- tick,” said Corey Harbaugh, Paw Paw
help. ple: Feeling angry and yelling at your schools’ curriculum director. “You U.S. emergency rooms have seen a
mom because she forgot to buy your need to be better at that so that ev- surge in kids with mental health cri-
In a school year that was supposed favorite breakfast cereal. That makes ery adult a student comes into contact ses including suicidal behavior, de-
to be a return to normal but has you more upset and your mom feel with — from the moment they get on pression and eating disorders. Pediat-
proven anything but, the district has sad. Instead, remember that you also a bus in the morning, the moment ric mental health therapists are scarce
launched an educational program like waffles and could ask her nicely they get off in the afternoon — every in many areas and kids often wait
based on a key component of mod- to make some, leading you both to adult has been trained and has been months for outpatient treatment.
ern psychology — cognitive behavior feel happier as you begin your day.
therapy. Principles of this method are
embedded in the curriculum and are At the adjoining elementary school
part of the district’s full embrace of for older grades, in a group session
social and emotional learning. for more at-risk kids, four fifth grad-
ers practiced a mindfulness exercise,
Students in every grade are taught slowly breathing in and out while
how thoughts, feelings and behav- using a forefinger to trace up and
iors are linked and how learning how down the fingers on the other hand.
to control and reframe thoughts can Behavior specialist Eric Clark, wear-
lead to more positive outcomes. The ing a black face mask printed with the
program includes more intensive les- message, “Be Nice,” led the session,
sons for kids struggling with anxiety, calmly accepting a defiant girl’s re-
depression or trauma, along with ses- fusal to participate.
sions on suicide prevention. All dis-
trict employees learn about the con- Clark said that since school resumed,
cepts. he’s seen kids with lots of anxiety,
thoughts of self-harm and feeling
While schools in the U.S. and else- “completely overwhelmed, they just