TODAYonline

Teaching kids to hang tough

Neo Chai Chin
chaichin@mediacorp.com.sg

With record numbers of young people seeking help for mental problems, teaching positive thinking and resilience has never seemed more crucial.

And hatching programmes to do just that are schools in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States are waking up to the needs of children.

At the first New Science of Happiness and Well-being conference to be held in Asia, psychologist Ilona Boniwell outlined how children are facing more choices these days and how "not being able to deal with it leads to helplessness and depression".

In Singapore, the Institute of Mental Health's Child Guidance Clinic saw almost 3,000 cases last year, more than the 2,000 to 2,500 cases annually in the seven years before that. In the UK, about 2 per cent of children aged 11 to 15 and 11 per cent of youth aged 16 to 24 suffer from a major depressive disorder. It shows the need for "positive psychology" programmes in schools, said Dr Boniwell, a senior lecturer at the University of East London.

America's Penn Resiliency Programme, for example, teaches children aged 10 to 14 to identify their feelings, empathise with others and tolerate ambiguity, among other skills. In northern England, an approach called Celebrating Strengths encourages children in primary schools to develop their strengths through storytelling.

In Australia, the Bounce Back! Programme is taught in primary and secondary schools and incorporated into the existing curricula.

This has meant more educators are studying positive psychology, an emerging field of study on the positive qualities of individuals and communities, said Dr Boniwell, who helped develop Europe's first masters in applied positive psychology at her university.

Conference attendees, who were receptive to her presentation, told Today that Singapore did not lag behind in this field, either.

UniSIM has a positive psychology module in its sociology degree course, while social and emotional learning is mandated in government schools, said education consultant and adjunct Temasek Polytechnic lecturer Marion Neubronner.

More programmes are being added. Last month, a mental toughness programme called Zippy's Friends was introduced in three schools for Primary 1 pupils.

Some schools, such as St Andrew's Secondary, roll out programmes independently. St Andrew's weekly Self-Science lessons help students understand their own emotions, adopt sound values and encourage them to give back to society.

"We also have a strong sports programme that teaches the boys to lose like gentlemen. Sports teachers debrief the boys after games, so that they learn from defeat," said principal Belinda Charles. "So, we teach resilience as part of a set of values."

More effort, however, may be needed, Ms Neubronner said, adding that "we're definitely making progress in teaching our kids to be happy, but it's like exercise — you must see it through for it to make a difference".