By Mary O’KEEFE

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was joined this week by leaders from several organizations that focus on student, and adult, mental well-being.

“This will take all of us coming together to draw on our resources and to make [mental health] a priority for schools, for our society, for students and adults,” said Dr. Amy Cranston, executive director for Social Emotional Learning Alliance for California [SEL4CA].

The pandemic has highlighted what has been a pattern of depression and mental health issues in students.

“You all know it is hard enough to be a young person under normal circumstances …just growing [up], dealing with bullying, dealing with change [and] with peer pressure. All of these things weigh so heavily on the young people but right now young people – and all of us – are experiencing what I believe is the toughest moment we will experience in our lifetime,” Thurmond said.

He added everyone has been coping with the pandemic and its effects; in addition, many people have lost their homes due to fires and are watching acts of hatred committed throughout society.

The California Dept. of Education has partnered with several organizations to focus on mental health support for students and adults. Those partners include SEL4CA; Headspace, a global leader in mindfulness and meditation that will be providing free subscriptions to all California educators in support of teacher self-care; ARRAY 101 with filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who has launched a new online education initiative delivering dynamic social impact learning guides for ARRAY’s films and television series; Kevin Love Fund, founded by professional basketball player Kevin Love whose organization advocates for the de-stigmatization of mental health and prioritization of wellness; Beyond Differences, an organization dedicated to ending social isolation in schools, which many think is needed now more than ever due to distance learning; and MindUP, developed by the Goldie Hawn Foundation, whose organization is an acclaimed classroom-based curriculum focusing on four pillars: neuroscience, social-emotional learning, positive psychology and mindful awareness.

Hawn has been working on bringing meditation and children’s mental health issues to the forefront for many years.

“We have been pushing the ball up the hill for 20 years, at least, to get an understanding on mental health and stability for our children,” Hawn said.

She began her organization after 9-1-1. She has been a meditator since 1972 and knows the advantages of how meditation can change the brain.

She noted how the world changed after 9-1-1 and she knew that, although society may not have seen the results right away, many children would have to deal with silent distress.

“[We may not have seen it then] but if we don’t pay attention we won’t have a society that understands how to manage their negative emotions,” she said.

She stressed the importance of students knowing how their brain works.

“Why aren’t we teaching brain science in the classrooms? We ask [students] to use their brain, we depend on it, and we don’t teach them how it works,” Hawn added.

She explained her organization does not focus on a “Band-Aid repair” but deals with the whole student by teaching them at a very young age how their brains work, including what happens in their brain when they are angry, and how they can control it.

This type of education was difficult to push years ago because many thought of meditation as a type of religion, which it is not. It is a way to teach students how to be in control of their own emotions by understanding where those emotions come from.

The program also teaches the importance of happiness.

“Happiness is not a little thing,” Hawn said. “It is very important.”

She added that with so much anger, fear and uncertainty being encountered this type of program was even more important.

“Without a child understanding how to manage and quiet themselves they will never learn,” Hawn said.

Thurmond added that there is $2 billion allocated that school districts can tap into to get programs that promote social and emotional well-being.