I taught a variety of children in my life, mostly as a parent, babysitter, recreation leader, or assistant, most recently helping summer students taking their graduation math tests and as a religious education instructor in the Catholic Church’s PREP courses and as a coach for a resume writing class.
During the time I taught teens and middle grade students, I observed the following problems:
1. Students without adequate vision
2. Students speaking English as a Second Language with difficulties
3. Students who got abusive or violent after sitting still for an hour
4. Students who couldn’t sit still in their chair for more than five minutes
5. Students who had inappropriate body contact with others
6. Lack of manners such as how to introduce friends and family or to serve food or exchange gifts or learn the names of others
7. Students who couldn’t read
8. Students who couldn’t enunciate their words
9. Students who had difficulty speaking to a group because they couldn’t project their voice
10. Students who got wildly unsettled in an emotional situation
11. Students who were fearful of computers
12. Students afraid to ask for help
13. Children who couldn’t stand to be touched
14. Children that cried constantly
15. Students with difficulty studying and concentrating
16. Students unable to identify who they could ask for help
17. Students who did not know how to create a resume
18. Students who didn’t know how to build their skills for a resume
19. Students who were required to do public service
20. Students who pulled pranks like clogging toilets or toilet papering people or buildings
21. Students who attended summer school to have a meal
22. Students without parental supervision or acting as a parent for younger siblings
In working with these students, I often took on the roles that mental health care professionals provide by coaching them through tasks, teaching them skills or making suggestions about where they could look for information either on the web. Some less usual practices I taught included:
1. Using meditation to calm and focus students
2. Group facilitation of conversations about morals or about helpful contacts
3. One-on-one coaching to build an individual’s skills
Some of the parents ended up spending more time with their child based on my suggestions or took their child to a doctor because of a hormone problem or speech therapist or dentist.
Mental health care professionals are the answers to many of the above problems including counselors, speech therapists, coaches, mentors, PREP school teachers, analysts, psychiatrists. The mental health profession has expanded beyond what we had in our youth. Parents who effectively use mental health care often see their children grow beyond their current development limitations.