LIFE IN THE MIDDLE: MARCH
A Mental Health and Wellness Newsletter from CMS Counselors
IMPORTANT DATES
March 8: Course Selections for Rising 7th/8th Grade Due-
March 8 -12 - Hope Week
March 12: Professional Development Half Day/Asynchronous Learning
March 12: End of 3rd 9 weeks
March 15-19: Spring Break
2021 - 2022 Course Selection Webpage Students: https://sites.google.com/southlakecarroll.edu/cmscourseselections2021-22/home
HOPE WEEK MARCH 8 -12
CISD is proud to promote Hope Week through our Hope Squads on each secondary campus.
The goal of Hope Squad is to prevent suicide through public awareness and education, reduce stigma, and serve as a resource to those touched by suicide.
Hope Squad Core Values:
1. We value education.
The Hope Squad program was built by educators in partnership with mental health experts. The evidence-based training changes how schools approach mental health and suicide prevention.
2. We value taking initiative.
Hope Squad members are trained to take action when someone is struggling. Instead of waiting for a peer to come to them, Hope Squad members are the ones to reach out first.
3. We value openness.
Hope Squad members are trained to be aware of their peers and watch for warning signs. They learn to show empathy to their peers, listen without judgment, and reduce stigma regarding help-seeking and mental illness.
4. We value self-care.
You can help others best if you are also taking care of yourself. We advocate for maintaining healthy boundaries, building resilience, and avoiding burnout.
5. We value community.
It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes an entire community to save one. The Circles4Hope model recognizes the role of mental health partnerships, school programs, and community connections working together for suicide prevention.
Hope Squad's Area of Focus
1. Safety.
Hope Squad members recognize the warning signs of suicide, reach out to peers in distress, and refer them to trusted adults.
2. Connectedness.
Hope Squad members actively look for ways to support their peers and increase connectedness in their schools.
3. Bullying Prevention.
Hope Squad members recognize bullying, intervene, and encourage other students not to be bystanders.
4. Mental Wellness.
Hope Squad members promote resilience and self-care and work closely with their local mental health agency.
5. Reducing Stigma.
Hope Squad members reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and mental health and show that it’s okay to get help.
6. Substance Abuse Prevention.
Hope Squad members understand the complexity of substance abuse, encourage peers to make healthy choices, and persuade struggling peers to get help.
HOW TO DEVELOP INDIVIDUALITY IN YOUR KIDS
Knowing how to help kids develop individuality helps them to have healthy self-esteem. Every child is an individual with his own personality, interests, preferences, approaches to situations and perspectives. However, internal conflict and external demands on your child can cause him to trade his individuality for what he thinks others want him to be. Protect your child's sense of self by providing an environment and activities that develops his individuality.
Create a low-stress environment to help your child feel confident in his individuality. Steve Baskins of the American Camp Association, writing for "Psychology Today" says you can do this by limiting planned activities and lessons and being open to what your child enjoys or wants to learn. He notes that while keeping to a schedule and being organized is important at times, it is also necessary to give your child room to discover his interests and talents.
Allow your child to express himself without limiting interests and activities by gender. Listen to your child's comments about gender-related activities without being critical or mocking him. For example if your son wants to learn how to cook or sew, encourage him to do so and point out men who are successful in these careers or hobbies.
Give your child positive living and historical role models in your family, community, country and culture, who have overcome restrictions due to gender, ethnicity religion and class. For example, teach your child about women who have succeeded as pilots, engineers or mathematicians.
Encourage your child to create his own play and let him daydream and think without filling up his time with toys, electronics and screens.
Introduce your child to music, stories, clothing and foods from a wide range of cultures. Take him to culture and art shows to show him the diversity of people and places. Limit how much canned pop culture he gets from the TV and Internet.
Some children may feel they need to conform and hide their individuality out of fear of being mocked or bullied by other children. If your child has low-self esteem or is being bullied, talk to him and try to get to the root of the problem. Talk to school officials about bullying, and seek professional help if necessary. Bullying can lead to depression.
Resource:
https://howtoadult.com/develop-individuality-kids-2304536.html
The importance of patience in self-development
In the midst of living in stressful times, it's important to recognize the value of patience. Patience makes it easier to live because it reduces negative emotions like stress, anger, or frustration. When one is patient, one is calmer and more open to changes.
Patience can transform your relationships:
An impatient person is often restless, easily irritable, and might not hesitate in saying things that can hurt other people. Impatience clouds our reasoning and can make us behave rudely or inconsiderately. Consequently, an impatient person is likely to offend other people with his/her behavior. Hence, if you care about your relationships, you must be patient and focus on the good qualities and individual traits of the people around you. One way to learn the importance of patience in our life is to adopt an empathetic approach towards people. Empathy can help you understand other people and their circumstances so you don't feel impatient with them. By knowing the importance of patience in life, you will be able to build and maintain strong relationships.
Patience transforms your potential:
Quite often, people wrongly assume that wealth or high physical strength are the only measures of a successful life. However, more than one’s physical skills or material wealth, it is patience that guides people towards greatness in their respective field.
Long-term vision:
By understanding the importance of having patience we can maintain an unwavering focus on our long-term goals. Temporary setbacks like a delayed promotion, failing to qualify for a tournament or exam, or enduring train and flight delays don’t affect a patient person much.
Mental and physical well-being:
We can see how patience plays an important role in our mental and physical wellness. By understanding the importance of patience in our life, we can learn to stay in control of our emotions and avoid negative feelings such as anger, frustration, helplessness, etc.
Ability to make a sustained effort:
Patience gives people the perspective to focus on long-term strategies. You would have noticed that patient people have a reputation for persistence. This is because they work towards their goals despite setbacks and delays.
Peace and popularity:
Patience enables us to analyze things and situations beyond their face value. The resourcefulness, calm, and empathetic behavior and self-control of patient people can make them very popular. It also gives them inner peace and the ability to keep smiling despite challenges.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
10 Important Conflict Resolution Skills For Teenagers
Being a teenager is not easy. The time between adulthood and childhood is full of changes – both physical and emotional. With hormones raging, teenagers often find it difficult to be ‘social’. Temper tantrums, sulking, ignoring parents – all these are standard teenage behavior. Most teenagers feel that others ‘just don’t get it’. But we have all been there. We get it!
Equipping your teenager with the right set of life skills can help her manage these tumultuous years better. Conflict resolution skills are something all teenagers must learn.
Why Does Conflict Occur?
Conflict is part of life. No matter how much you want to protect your child from it, she has to face this reality. Conflict can occur within the family, with siblings and parents, with friends, and with society in general. But the one thing you need to teach your teenagers is that a conflict need not be a negative experience. Remember, conflict can lead to change, positive change!
Consequences Of Teenage Conflicts:
Without the necessary skill set, a teenager can land in tough situations when it comes to conflicts. At home, unresolved conflicts can lead to strained relations. Outside, it can lead to broken friendships, hours of detention, and even violence!
Teaching Conflict Resolution Skills For Teenagers:
As a parent, it is part of your job to help your child navigate life without too many hiccups. Start early and teach your teenager some easy ways to manage conflict. She may not thank you for it today, but you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done!
Teach your teenager the following conflict resolution ‘commandments’:
Commandment 1:
Conflict is a reality. There is no escaping the fact. Hiding won’t solve anything.
Commandment 2:
You can’t wish the problem away. Don’t pretend and put on a mask. Keeping your feelings cooped inside won’t work.
Commandment 3:
Learn to deal with the problem, not the person. Conflict occurs because of a particular issue, not because of a person. Don’t make it personal.
Commandment 4:
Be respectful. Listen to the other person. Really listen. Listening to your parents or teachers may seem like a drag but zoning out is not the solution.
Commandment 5:
Be assertive. You don’t need to be either passive or aggressive to deal with teen conflicts. You need to be assertive. Being assertive means putting your views forward confidently and calmly.
Commandment 6:
Learn to negotiate. This is the most important skill you need to learn. Negotiating is a skill that will serve you in the long term.
Commandment 7:
Stick to the present. Don’t drag in past issues. Doing so will only muddy the conflict further.
Commandment 8:
The silent treatment does not work. Sulking is as bad as getting aggressive – it won’t solve the problem. Talk it out.
Commandment 9:
Be understanding. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoe. Don’t get defensive and analyze the situation.
Commandment 10:
Learn to say sorry. Stand in front of the mirror and practice, if the need be! If you are wrong, accept it. Doing so will not make you a wimp. Only a strong person has the strength to say ‘sorry’. This simple word can work like magic, try it!
These commandments are skills that will help your teenager not just deal with conflicts, but with life in general. But teenagers are stubborn. When you find yourself losing patience, take a deep breath. Remember, you too were a teenager once.
It is important to start early. Teaching conflict resolution to teenagers before adolescence turns them into rebels. And you as a parent need to be there for them. Be present, be aware of what is going on in their life – but do so with respect for their privacy. The raging hormones will subside. Just make sure they don’t leave a lasting mark on your teenager’s life!
How can my child meet with their counselor?
1. Teacher Referral
2. Parent Referral
3. Self Referral
Digital Counselor Request Form
We meet with students for many reasons:
1. Academic - Performance, struggles, test taking strategies, study skills etc.
2. Friendship/ Peer/Social Concerns
3. Personal Concerns
4. Behavioral Concerns
5. Stress/Anxiety
6. Responsive Services - meeting their immediate needs and concerns
If you have a concern and you would like for a counselor to meet with your child, please contact your child's grade level counselor via email or phone.
CMS Counseling Staff
7th Grade Counselor
Allison.adams@southlakecarroll.edu
Jane Kea
8th Grade Counselor
Paula Lynn
8th Grade Counselor
Paula.lynn@southlakecarroll.edu
Website: http://cmscounselor.edublogs.org/
Phone: 817.949.5400