On Nov. 14/17, the Toronto Star reported on a survey commissioned by Children’s Mental Health Ontario showing that almost half of Ontario youth miss school because of anxiety.
“It found of the 18- to 34-year-old’s surveyed across the province:
- 46 per cent had missed school due to issues related to anxiety.
- 40 per cent had sought mental health help.
- Of those, 50 per cent found the experience of getting help challenging.
- 42 per cent did not get the help they needed or are still waiting.”
And last year, mental disorders linked to stress were cited by just under half of about 800 Ontario teachers on disability leave.
Randy McGlynn, chief operating officer of the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan, says that 15 or 16 of every 1,000 teachers make long-term disability claims. For nurses and air-traffic controllers, also in stress-filled occupations, the figure is eight to 10, he said.
Each of us is touched by these stats in some way.
What if these two seemingly separate issues are related?
This brief video from the HeartMath Institute illustrates how the nervous systems of students and teachers (and staff and administrators) affect each other. This concept underlies NeftTI’s position that the most effective intervention an educator can make to support their students’ well-being is to first become expert at regulating their own nervous system in the face of all the systemic stresses they face.
Watch: Science of the Heart
NeftTI truly wants to help our educational system become a calmer, gentler and emotionally safer place for both students and teachers.
We have NeftTI certified EFT practitioners with experience at all levels of the public and private educational systems who offer stress management workshops in schools and during professional development days. Feedback on these events is very positive. Just email support@NeftTI.com to find out how to make it happen at your school.
We’re dedicating the next 3 newsletters to the topic of ‘Teacher Stress’ with a focus on helping teachers to become more expert at regulating their nervous systems using EFT. That is not only hugely positive for the teachers’ lives but their regulated nervous system contributes greatly to the ability of their students to self-regulate.
Even if you are not officially a teacher, or even inside the educational system at all, you’ll find these newsletters highly beneficial for your own self-regulation expertise.
In this months newsletter, NeftTI shares certified EFT Practitioner and Stress Management expert Kerry Garnier, a teacher with the Toronto District School Board opens the conversation with a guest blog on how she saved her stressful teaching career using EFT and a teacher video illustrating the foundations of self-regulation using EFT.
May I ask for your support in this important endeavour? Please Share this page to teachers, support staff, administrators, parents – anyone that you believe might find this information valuable and who might use it to make a positive impact for our children. Click on the Social Media icons at the top of this article to share it to your online communities.
Thanks!
Tapping into greater peace together,
Nancy