PHOTO CREDIT: SEVENTYFOUR/STOCK.ADOBE.COM

Public schools have filled a myriad of roles throughout U.S. history. Each role was intended to meet a very specific need of the time. Today, we emphasize whole child development. What is it and what need does it fulfill?

Abraham Maslow was one of the founders of humanistic psychology. He was the eldest of seven children raised in Brooklyn, New York, by uneducated immigrant parents in the early 1900s. Maslow was no stranger to adversity. He described his childhood as both “sad” and “lonely,” according to a 1968 interview. Yet, he was able to persevere and live a fulfilled life. His major writings, Motivation and Personality and Toward a Psychology of Being, shed light on how he was able to find success despite the adverse childhood experiences he endured. Among his many ideas was that we cannot self-actualize—or be the best versions of ourselves—until we are safe, we feel good about ourselves, and we have a sense of belonging. 

Maslow insisted that people would not be able to achieve their higher-order needs, like self-esteem and self-actualization, until their lower-level needs, such as food, shelter, and safety, were met. This is the most basic argument in support of whole child development. We cannot remember, concentrate, focus, attend, and learn when we are hungry, fearful, unsure, or otherwise preoccupied.

Post-pandemic data reveals that children and youth are in crisis. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) declared mental health a national emergency in October 2021. The AAP reported, “As health professionals dedicated to the care of children and adolescents, we have witnessed soaring rates of mental health challenges among children, adolescents, and their families over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbating the situation that existed prior to the pandemic.” 

The mental health of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, + (LGBTQ+) children and youth has been disproportionately affected by this trend. Suicide is currently the third leading cause of death among youth and young adults ages 15 to 24 and LGBTQ+ youth and young adults are more likely to attempt suicide than their same-age peers, according to a 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

Schools currently are overwhelmed by learning loss, an increase in disruptive behavior, absenteeism, and violence. Gaggle, the creator of student safety monitoring software for K-12, collected data from June 2020 to June 2021 from more than 10.1 billion email messages, chats, and files produced on school-provided devices and platforms. It reported a clinically significant increase in mentions and  incidents: suicide and self-harm (87% increase), violence towards others (104% increase), drug and alcohol use (134% increase), and harassment (55% increase).

An intentional focus on whole child development could decrease each of these behaviors. Students would:

• Retain information if their central nervous systems were settled.
• Focus on lessons and remain seated if they felt safe in the classroom.
• Attend school if they felt good about themselves while walking down the hallways.
• Interact peacefully with their peers if there was a climate of kinship in the school building.

There is a direct correlation between the difficulties that schools are currently experiencing and student mental health. Addressing these difficulties requires a shift, though. Schools must adopt a broader vision for their work with students and view students holistically as social, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual beings, among other things. Schools can no longer have a singular focus on achievement. The good news is that schools don’t have to abandon their current protocols and procedures to foster this change. Schools simply need to infuse a humanistic approach into their current work. By doing so, schools will create a space where the hungry are nourished, the fearful find solace, and the unsure gain clarity.

One solution could be as simple as doing away with the cut off for accessing breakfast in the morning. It is not uncommon for students to be denied breakfast if they arrive at school after a certain time. Allow hungry children to eat. Being hangry is a real thing! Another simple solution is speaking with students who appear distressed or who express distress. You don’t need to provide a solution or spend a lot of time addressing the issue.

Micro-conferences are short, sweet, and effective ways to provide students the opportunity to be seen and heard.

Students who require more than a listening ear should be referred to a school-based clinician. I am not ignorant of the fact that a vast majority of school-based programs must triage student need because they only have the capacity to support the most severe cases. There is a nationwide shortage of school psychologists and school counselors. However, school-based clinicians are not the only viable option available for ongoing support of students and families. Schools should partner with community-based organizations to meet the mental health needs of their school community.

Community-based organizations can work in conjunction with schools to address what we all know is a tremendous task that exceeds schools’ capacity yet demands immediate attention. We must address all our students needs if we expect them to thrive at school. Students need to know that we see ALL of them.