In recent years, wellbeing has been a topic of much debate in schools as well as in society in general. I liked the Victorian Government鈥檚 Better Health website description: 鈥淲ellbeing is not just the absence of disease or illness. It鈥檚 a complex combination of a person's physical, mental, emotional and social health factors. Wellbeing is strongly linked to happiness and life satisfaction. In short, wellbeing could be described as how you feel about yourself and your life鈥�.

Decades ago, anxiety and depression would have been considered rare in children, but educators do now regularly see these diagnoses given to students who are genuinely struggling to cope with life and school. I sometimes wonder whether our children鈥檚 regular exposure to news about wars, floods, fires and pandemics might be too much for them to deal with if they are to also retain a sense of hope for the future, which is essential for mental health and wellbeing.

It鈥檚 easy to see how children can feel anxious about things that go on in the world.听 When I was growing up, my access to the news was via John Craven鈥檚 Newsround (a news program specifically produced for children, with sanitised versions of major news stories) and the BBC at 6pm, when a gentleman in a suit and tie read out a carefully written account of the day鈥檚 happenings around the world and finished with a jolly story to uplift the population. I have not forgotten one such happy ending which provided a detailed account of the life of Herbie, the skateboarding suburban duck.

By way of contrast, news nowadays is available in so many formats and at every hour of the day. It takes a conscious decision for adults to regulate the news that they listen to or watch and some of us choose very specific things to engage with and avoid others, for our own wellbeing. Children just don鈥檛 have the skills to be able to do this and as a parent, it鈥檚 a challenging task, monitoring what they are exposed to and whether it is age appropriate.

A quick Google search of 鈥淪hould children watch the news?鈥� reveals a variety of interesting articles and opinions. I suspect the answer to this question very much depends on the individual child 鈥� some are able to process concepts and situations which to others are threatening and can cause trauma.听 This is one of the many issues that parents have to consider on an individual basis and which can vary between siblings who react differently. Educators deal every day with students who are struggling to understand and come to terms with frightening events happening across the world.

We see huge differences in individuals鈥� thinking, their reactions to situations and therefore in their personal wellbeing. You probably know of people who have suffered awfully in their lives but coped remarkably well, as others who fall apart at what you might consider the most minor of issues, but which are clearly devastating to them.

Schools recognise the importance of wellbeing and the need to explicitly work with students to develop strategies that will help them deal with situations they will inevitably encounter during their lives.

At 69色情片, we take student wellbeing very seriously and I have been impressed with the level of care given to individuals who are struggling as well as with the carefully thought-out ways in which educators explicitly teach coping mechanisms to the children.

In a Year 4 class this week, I enjoyed participating in breathing exercises at the beginning of a Health lesson, teaching us how to calm our minds using purposeful breathing techniques. The students were remarkably engaged, had clearly used the techniques before and were noticeably calmer and more focused afterwards.听 (Late in the afternoon, the activity risked making me sleepy, but that can be attributed more to my age and the fact that for me, the day had involved a very early start).听 Despite this, I continued enjoying the lesson and had fun taking part in an exercise in which we prioritised what was important in our lives.

In the High School, we have a carefully constructed program run by mentors based on the PERMA model of wellbeing, attributed to Seligman鈥檚 ideas of positive psychology.听 Please do take the time to view the resources and your child鈥檚 efforts working through this when you sign the student diary each week.听 You can read more about the program here:

As we regularly say to the students, working on strategies to support our own personal mental health is a long-term project and the techniques which are discussed and practised in our mentor sessions need regular use and practice if the skills are to become embedded in our children鈥檚 toolbox of coping mechanisms. We point out to them that there鈥檚 not a lot we can do for them if they don鈥檛 participate actively in our wellbeing program, but then tell us the week before the exams that they are stressed and can鈥檛 cope!

There are lots of resources available to support parents considering their children鈥檚 wellbeing 鈥� here are two which may be of interest:

Parenting Research Centre 鈥� evidence-based and online:

The Parenting Research Centre helped create the Australian parenting website:

As parents, we can keep the dinnertime conversations going and share the coping strategies we use in our own lives.听 We can help our children realise that everybody has good and bad days, happy and sad times, but that if at any point they lose hope and feel long term worthlessness, then it may be that talking to a professional equipped to talk it through and help them develop coping mechanisms would be a good idea. I have included some telephone numbers below which are worth keeping in case they are of use at any point:

The Mental Health Response Line - 08 9224 888
Kids Helpline - 1800 55 1800
Lifeline - 13 11 14
Family Helpline - 9223 1100 or 1800 643 000
MensLine Australia - 1300 789 978
Suicide Call Back Service - 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue - 1300 22 46 36
Headspace - 1800 650 890
QLife - 1800 184 527