The Healthful School: Emotional Environment

Interpersonal relationships have the most impact on the social emotional environment of a school. Respect for the individual enhances open communication between students and staff. Teachers through their verbal and nonverbal behaviors must demonstrate that they recognize and value differences in students. Students should be able to express and experience their own individuality.

Teaching practices like cooperative learning can foster social and emotional growth as students work in teams, sharing strengths and weaknesses, which benefit each other's learning style. Specific social skills, like sharing, apologizing, negotiating, avoiding fights, and dealing with peer pressure, can also be taught directly through cooperative learning activities. Role play allows students to practice such skills.

Planning and organization of the school day are also important aspects of the emotional climate. Scheduling should include time for students to take care of their basic physical needs. Emphasis on healthful living habits, such as appropriate handwashing after toileting and before eating, can influence students' current and lifelong health status.

Schools should have student assistance programs in place to identify students who are experiencing academic, social or emotional problems in school and to direct them to qualified persons for help. Appropriate discipline plans also enhance the school environment. The focus of such a plan should be on building student self-esteem and problem solving skills. Conflict resolution skills should be taught to all students at the earliest possible age in an effort to stem the trend toward youth violence.

Many events in the school community may affect the emotional well-being of students and staff. A crisis team composed of administrators, nurses, counselors, and teachers may be needed to intervene in such traumas as attempted suicide, death, violence or natural disasters directly affecting the school. A district plan should assure appropriate personnel are trained, confidentiality is protected, proper dissemination of information occurs so that individual emotional needs are served while minimizing rumor or over-reaction.