{"id":25709,"date":"2025-09-09T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=25709"},"modified":"2025-09-06T11:36:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T15:36:03","slug":"should-schools-be-responsible-for-your-childs-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2025\/09\/should-schools-be-responsible-for-your-childs-mental-health.html","title":{"rendered":"Should Schools Be Responsible for Your Child’s Mental Health?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In August, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a law requiring mental health screenings for all public-school students in grades three through twelve. At first glance, this may sound like a good idea\u2014after all, who wouldn\u2019t want to identify a child who is depressed and in need of support? But is mandating school-based screenings really the right way to address mental health?<\/p>\n

This law raises important questions:\u00a0Who will conduct the screenings? How will the information be used? And could this approach unintentionally pathologize children?<\/strong>\u00a0These are not small concerns, and I am not convinced schools should be given this power.<\/p>\n

The Risk of Over-Focusing on Feelings<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to children, it\u2019s not always wise to repeatedly ask,\u00a0\u201cHow are you feeling?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Of course, I checked in with my kids\u2019 emotions when they were in school, but I didn\u2019t make their feelings the center of their functioning. My reasoning was simple:\u00a0the more attention you give a negative feeling, the more it grows.<\/p>\n

When I was a child, my grandparents would listen to what was bothering me, then gently say,\u00a0\u201cWhat are you going to do about that? Deal with it and move on.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0They didn\u2019t encourage me to ruminate, and that helped me build resilience. Likewise, when my mood was low, my parents would send me outside to play with friends. Exercise and social interaction were powerful antidotes to sadness.<\/p>\n

Teaching Children to Regulate Emotions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drawing from those lessons, I taught my children not just to name their emotions but to\u00a0regulate them. The more constructive question is:\u00a0When you feel down, how do you cope and work through it?<\/em><\/p>\n

Feelings are fleeting and unreliable; they should not be the basis for decision-making. What children need is not constant labeling but the ability to tolerate distress, regulate emotions, and keep moving forward. These skills are at the heart of many effective therapies\u2014and they are skills parents can and should teach. Schools should reinforce resilience, not pathology.<\/p>\n

A Spiritual Foundation for Resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n

We also can\u2019t ignore the spiritual dimension. The Psalms remind us to cry out to God and trust His goodness in times of distress. Sadly, much of our culture has lost that spiritual grounding. Parents must take responsibility to fill their children with God\u2019s Word, so they are not left as \u201cempty vessels\u201d seeking fulfillment in unhealthy ways.<\/p>\n

Building True Resilience<\/strong><\/p>\n

The bottom line is this:\u00a0stop labeling children as fragile or pathological.\u00a0Labels often make kids feel weaker, not stronger. Instead, we must teach them to face challenges, rely on God, and develop the confidence that they can overcome adversity.<\/p>\n

Resilience also grows in community. Families and churches should come together to pray, encourage one another, and teach children that they can \u201cdo all things through Christ.\u201d When we stop coddling children and instead equip them to cope, serve others, and practice kindness, we build a generation of overcomers\u2014stronger in mind, body, and spirit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In August, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a law requiring mental health screenings for all public-school students in grades three through twelve. At first glance, this may sound like a good idea\u2014after all, who wouldn\u2019t want to identify a child who is depressed and in need of support? But is mandating school-based screenings really the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[304,9203,4038,9209,9206,9218,9215,9212],"class_list":["post-25709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-depression","tag-depression-screening","tag-emotional-reasoning","tag-fragility-in-children","tag-mental-health-and-schools","tag-over-focus-on-feelings","tag-pathologizing-children","tag-resilency"],"yoast_head":"\nShould Schools Be Responsible for Your Child's Mental Health?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Illinois governor signed a law mandating mental health screenings for all public-school children. 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