If there appeared to be light at the end of the COVID tunnel, it may feel clouded out for some students who are facing one of the most dramatic armed conflicts of their generation.
After two weary years of COVID-related interruptions, the Thames Valley District School Board is offering advice to parents and teachers to help students get through the world’s latest trauma: the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The impact will vary, depending on the student’s age, lived experience, their identity and proximity to the crisis,” the board’s mental health lead Kathryn Lambert said.
The board sent a special communication this week, offering advice on how to address “a variety of emotions and reactions” experienced by students.
The nearly two-year-old pandemic has taken a toll on students’ mental health, Lambert said.
“The context is that we are all living through a pandemic and the cumulative stress that has on all our students and families and then compound that with an international crisis,” she said. “The world is small in our global age and some of our families are impacted by what they see and what they hear about the Ukraine crisis.”
Each student will be affected differently but newcomers might be more at risk, Lambert said.
“We have some families and students who may have migrated from countries where they survived a war and they are seeing images that could be triggering,” she said. “If you have experienced other types of trauma in your life, just being exposed to the media coverage of (what is happening) in Ukraine, as well, could have that personal impact on our wellbeing.”
Lambert advises parents to maintain regular routines and keep up schedules.
“At the same time, recognizing we want to provide space for children and youth to be able to talk about what they are hearing,” she said. “We are really encouraging families and educators to use open-ended questions when talking to kids like: ‘How are you feeling about what happened?’ versus more direct questions like: ‘Are you scared?’”
Also, Lambert said, watch for changes in behavior such as “anxiety, worry, feeling more stressed and perhaps having struggled sleeping.
“Sometimes kids don’t have the words to say they are not OK,” she said. “A change in behavior is perhaps an indication we want to check in with them. Pay attention to the indicators when the student becomes activated or feeling more stress.”
Lambert also advises caregivers to keep an eye on their child’s media use.
“Monitor their exposure on media and social media because, just like adults, they can get inundated with images and their brains can’t necessarily make sense of all,” she said. “Their worry and their anxieties may increase with what they are seeing without the ability to understand the context.”
Though most students will be OK with the support of family or school staff, some may need additional mental health supports through a school counsellor, social worker or the community.
Parents, caregivers, and students can contact their school principal for more information about mental health and well-being support at school and in the community.