Positive mental health: A key factor in academic perseverance
Positive mental health: A key factor in academic perseverance
WITH SUZANNE VALLIÈRES, MARIE-HÉLÈNE VÉRONNEAU AND GABRIELLE B.
Fondation Jeunes en Tête is pleased to support Hooked on School Days. For the past 20 years, the annual week-long campaign has played an important role in educating and helping young people to persevere at school and realize their full potential.
The campaign is an opportunity for us to remind everyone of the inextricable links between mental health and teens’ educational success and the critical role the entire school team plays in helping them stay in school.
In this article, a psychologist and researcher break down the issues, and a high-school teacher provides some practical advice on how to strengthen young people’s determination so they don’t drop out of school.
THE IMPACT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS ON PERSEVERANCE
Suzanne Vallières, psychologist and speaker, says “perseverance requires motivation, and without motivation there’s no perseverance. What makes young people lose or gain motivation can come down to the human contact they have with their teacher and how invested the parent is in their child’s educational success.”
A teen’s academic progress is an indicator of their educational success, but this success also depends on a number of psychological and social factors that shouldn’t be overlooked. The consequences of high levels of distress and anxiety, as well as body image issues, are just some of the factors that can hinder young people’s development at school.
“Anxiety disorders in young people can take many forms,” explains Marie-Hélène Véronneau, PhD, a professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) and an expert in mental health and educational success. “For example, a student who develops a school phobia experiences intense fear of the school environment and will seek to avoid it at all costs to escape their distress. In the same way, a social phobia may manifest itself as a fear of doing one or more actions in public (e.g., speaking, writing, eating in public), and this may also lead an individual to avoid school. Generally, a student who’s anxious about performing certain school tasks, for example, an exam, cannot perform to their full potential, as emotional distress or intrusive thoughts such as ‘I’m going to fail’ take up too much space.”
Psychologist Suzanne Vallières adds that “learning can only happen when you’re emotionally present.” Without necessarily experiencing major mental health issues, a young person going through a hard time can be affected, and their academic performance too.
This could be a tumultuous romance, conflict with a friend or a challenging family relationship. Keep in mind that, during adolescence, emotional needs take precedence over learning.
A highly anxious young person may anticipate future arguments with friends or feel isolated. “They may be unavailable to learn as a result. Eventually, a young person who doesn’t have many positive social ties or who feels psychologically unwell at school may see their grades or school attendance go down. There’s even a risk they drop out,” continues the psychologist.
THE TEACHER’S ROLE IN MOTIVATING TEENS
According to the Revue de psychoéducation,1 young people suffering from depression are 10 times more likely to drop out of school.
Mental health expert and UQÀM professor Marie-Hélène Véronneau explains that “when a person experiences depressive symptoms, it’s not uncommon for them to abandon an activity they were once interested in. If a student was motivated in the past to come to school because of their passion for science or to take part in an extracurricular sports activity, a depressive disorder could cause them to disengage and attend school less frequently.”
Suzanne Vallières adds that “young people who drop out of school often experience a great deal of psychological distress and discouragement. They don’t believe they can make it. Often these teens are also worried and afraid to talk about their difficulties.”
Marie-Hélène Véronneau goes on to remind teachers, “teens who’re having a hard time at school are often less motivated because they feel incompetent. By experiencing success, whether by getting good grades or demonstrating a talent for drama or sports, or strong social skills and positive leadership, students can regain a sense of competence, and as a result, a sense of belonging at school.”
If a young person feels ashamed, tries to hide their difficulties and refuses to seek help, this can end in social isolation. “This isolation prevents the student from meeting another basic need – that of belonging to a community (in this case, the school community). It’s important to break the isolation and show the student that they’re still valued by their peers and teachers, despite their difficulties,” states Marie-Hélène Véronneau.
According to a Léger2 survey conducted as part of the Hooked on School Days campaign, 57% of young people cite a parent as a positive influence for their staying in school, 37% a teacher and 33% their circle of friends. The role of the school team and the family unit is critical; we can’t underestimate the impact of intervening and talking about perseverance.
As a high-school French teacher, Gabrielle B. tries to do her part for teens: “I like to encourage my students and make them feel comfortable sharing signs of distress through small daily interactions such as a look, a smile, a compliment. It’s important to me that they feel that I’m interested in what they’re going through and that I’m there for them if ever.”
It’s vital to recognize the early signs of distress in a young person so we can help them at the out-start, equip them with solutions that work for their specific situation and ultimately prevent them from losing interest in their education.
👉 Consult our barometer to help you better assess a young person whose behaviour or remarks worry you.
Gabrielle B. adds “when students confide in me something heavy, I ask them if it’d be okay if I discuss it with the SET (special education technician), or if they’d accompany me to a calming space with school specialists. I try to quickly redirect them to available resources while reassuring them that I’m there for them. Having someone else listen to them who’s more qualified than I am can only help!”
Our role as a safety net for teens is to take an interest in what’s worrying them and start a conversation to better understand what’s going on in their heads. Feeling listened to and understood makes it easier for them to confide in us, so the negative emotions or anxious thoughts don’t build up and become a serious problem.
4 STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT IN THE CLASSROOM TO SUPPORT STUDENTS
Many young people struggle with academic perseverance and educational success every day. To have a positive impact on your students, here are a few helpful behaviours you can adopt:
1 – Be open and attentive, and speak with kindness.
Pay attention to what you say and how you say it.
Here are a few examples of remarks to avoid when talking to young people, and some suggestions to use instead:
❌ “You never focus.” / “You’re never organized.” / “You never stick with anything.” / “You never proofread your writing.”
✔ “I’ve noticed you’ve been less focused on your studies lately.” / “It seems like you’re finding this a bit hard.” / “What could we do to help you get on track?”
Teens can go into a negative downward spiral all on their own; they need to feel safe, to have their distress validated, and finally, to be supported with concrete solutions to the challenges and obstacles they’re facing.
“It’s important to encourage a student’s strengths. If a young person has a hard time at math but writes really well, you can congratulate them to instill a sense of competence. You might then encourage them to publish in the school newspaper to make the most of their talent. Students who don’t feel competent at school are less likely to make an effort or participate. Without additional help and support to overcome these psychological difficulties, they’re at risk of dropping out,” explains Marie-Hélène Véronneau.
Try to remind young people about the many connected spheres that make up their lives, pointing out that self-fulfillment and educational success go hand in hand. Luckily, there’s multiple sources of motivation outside the classroom that can help them stick with their studies.
You can help your students identify their personal strengths with this exercise:
👉 Download the lesson plan ``Understanding your strengths``
2 – Start a conversation about mental health.
It’s sometimes difficult to broach the subject of psychological distress with students who feel that you won’t understand what they’re going through.
High-school teacher Gabrielle B. explains how she builds trust with young people: “I ask my students what they did over the weekend and how things are going. It’s these small points of contact I think that make young people feel comfortable sharing the bigger, more personal things.”
📝 How to help teenagers experiencing psychological distress
3 – Encourage good sleeping habits.
Social anxiety, performance anxiety, eco-anxiety and the fear of being judged by others in social media are all issues that Suzanne Vallières observes daily with young people who come to her clinic. These stressors can cause deep fatigue.
The psychologist and speaker points out that “fatigue directly impacts a young person’s motivation and perseverance. In fact, their fatigue can be so great that it leads to more distress or anxiety. It’s important to remember that a good sleep routine is essential to maintaining balance.”
4 – Find the right approach.
As parents and teachers, we can, for example, engage and involve our young people by asking them for their ideas to help make their studies more stimulating.
Suzanne Vallières explains: “Let’s not forget that we’re teaching young people who are constantly stimulated by the endless images appearing in their social media feeds, which weakens their ability to concentrate. A great approach is to simply ask them what they’d like and what would motivate them so they have the right learning conditions and feel good about it.”
Marie-Hélène Véronneau agrees that it’s important to “involve the student as much as possible in the decision-making around what measures will help them, instead of just imposing solutions on them. A sense of autonomy, i.e., having the impression that their ideas and opinions are heard and taken into account in decisions that concern them, helps satisfy their need for independence, which is just as important as the need for competence and social belonging.”
Gabrielle B., who currently teaches Grade 7 and 8 French, explains: “I have a student who was unable to speak in front of others. For an oral assignment, I put her together with two of her friends for a private ‘discussion.’ I wanted to evaluate her understanding of a novel they’d read. She was outstanding and got an A+. I’m hoping she’ll realize that she’s actually very articulate, and that the more she practises, the easier it’ll get. I try to do my small part to help each student overcome their challenges so that they feel confident about their value and potential.”
Let’s adapt to young people’s realities and offer them what they need to stay the course and realize their dreams. Together, we must make every daily gesture count in order to encourage, listen to, support and accompany our young people so they discover their potential and persevere!
“Teens’ mental health plays a critical role in their ability to stay in school. It’s our collective responsibility to focus on bold prevention strategies that empower young people to be all that they can be. Given the complex challenges of our times, awareness and education about the factors that promote positive mental health must be our priority.” – Antoine Beaudoin-Gentes, Program Director, FJeT
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1Quiroga, C., Janosz M. et D. Marcotte. « Les sentiments dépressifs à l’adolescence : un facteur de risque différentiel du décrochage scolaire chez les filles et les garçons de milieu défavorisé ». Revue de psychoéducation, Volume 35, No 2, 2006.
2Le Réseau québécois pour la réussite éducative. 2022. Sondage Léger pour le RQRE dans le cadre des Journées de la persévérance scolaire. https://bit.ly/3HaPosY