BUILDING emotional resilience in children and assisting in the prevention of poor mental health is the aim of MYTERN, a mindful strategy being introduced into some Northern schools.
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Norwood Primary School principal Kelly Heathcote has welcomed the Take Emotional Responsibility Now strategy into her school, which has been embraced by pupils, teachers and parents.
‘‘MYTERN reminds us that we are in charge,’’ she said.
‘‘We can make decisions about how we respond or behave at all times so that noone can make us angry, no one can make us sad.’’
Creator Dr Jane Foster worked as a teacher for 36 years and discovered that her students lacked the ability to deal with life’s stresses.
She said whenever children experienced something stressful in their lives, adult society rescued or hid them from the situation so that they could not learn about how best to manage their negative feelings.
This, she said, has led to a generation who have been unable to develop their own personal strategies for coping with emotional, stressful times.
‘‘What I found was disturbing was the lack of emotional resilience, which is something that kids must learn,’’ Dr Foster said.
‘‘I felt not only for the students but for the teachers and parents as well.
‘‘It seemed to be a cultural thing. Mental health problems are seen by the World Health Organisation as the fastest growing disease in the world, which shows that we are doing something wrong.’’
Ms Foster said she wanted to create a preventative tool that people could utilise.