“It doesn’t matter how you got into teaching, what matters is that you are building a nation.”

EDUCATION AND MENTAL BEING:

The purpose of this conference is for each and everyone to leave with a re-adjustment or a mental shift.

Poor mental health has a long term effect on academics and many teachers fail to see the main cause behind this, many children are laboring under heavy burdens that we are not aware of. It has been discovered that 50% of all mental challenges began before age 14. The underlying meaning of these is that these children are in school and the teachers are not taking note of these problems.

The mental health of a child has to do with what is going on in the life of the child; it’s related to the family and peer relationship. Depression, anxiety, traumatic experience, intellectual disability, substance abuse, these can affect the mental wellbeing of children.

In Nigeria (CAMH) a study in 2010 showed that some kids were consuming alcohol as a way of easing stress. 11.4% children in primary care center were found with mental health issues while 16.4% children in public school admitted to having thoughts of committing suicide.

Challenges for Detection in Schools:

There are a lot of challenges in detecting signs of poor mental in school. The two most important ones are;

• Stigma and discrimination: A teacher should not allow stigma to get into the way of helping a child.
• Lack of skills: Training is very important for teachers in order for them to detect signs of mental health issues and ways to approach it.

CAMH 21^st Century Challenges:

The emergence of social media has allowed our children to be open to negative information. By the click of a finger, a child can access information not suitable for their age. There are several challenges we face in curbing this, they include; Poor parenting, an explanatory model of diseases, gaming disorder, cyberbullying.

Finally, we must be willing to recognize a child that is going through mental issues or trouble. Teachers should avail themselves of mental health information and be willing to provide aid to a child that needs it.

We must continue to be advocates for our students!