Primary and secondary school students have abnormal psychological assessments, and it is not appropriate to "wear hats" in a hurry

On Sunday, parent Y suddenly visited and anxiously asked if she needed to take her child to the hospital to see a psychiatrist immediately, saying that this was the request of the school's class teacher.

After a question and answer communication, I learned that the original situation was like this - on Friday, Y was urgently called to the school by the homeroom teacher, and was told that the school would organize students to conduct a mental health assessment in the new semester, and the results showed that Y's child had depression, and asked the parents to take the child to the hospital to see a psychologist as soon as possible. The head teacher also said, your (boy) child is very depressed, (coming to school) to study for more than a semester, and he can't even say the names of all the female classmates in the class......

After listening to the head teacher's story, although he also knows the root cause of his own children, Y is still not worried, hesitant to go home, and is anxious about whether to take the child to the hospital to find a psychiatrist as soon as possible.

Fortunately, I have known Y's child for a few years, and when I communicated, I had the impression label of that child: self-reliance, self-discipline, studiousness, distinctive personality, strong logical thinking ability, etc. The most rare thing nowadays is that the child is still very careful and filial, since he was a child, he knows how to share the worries of his parents, and knows that the small manufacturing business operated by the family has been deteriorating in the past two years, so he quietly reduced the cost of three meals a day in the school. Even if the homeroom teacher informed the situation and Y had a "reassuring" detailed communication with the child, the child is still notoriously thrifty, and he is still reluctant to spend an extra dollar on each meal.

After thinking about it for a while, I first asked Y, do you say that your friend QQ's child FF is depressed?

FF and Y's children are the same age, and they were also good playmates in elementary school. Y seconds replied, FF, how could he be depressed?

Then I thought about it again, Y asked half-suspiciously, could it be that FF's personality is too strong, I heard that in the past two years, FF has never participated in weekend make-up classes organized by the school, and he always hides when he encounters people on weekdays, and it is easy for people to misunderstand?

I told Y that the homeroom teacher also informed QQ last semester that FF's mental health assessment results showed a tendency to depression, and parents should take time to take their children to the hospital to see a psychiatrist. In this regard, QQ specially chatted with the child seriously, and the child replied that the (mental health) assessment at school was done at random. FF also joked that he filled in all the A's last year (assessment questions), which doesn't work, so he'll fill in all the Cs this year.

I still remember the expression on QQ's face when he told the content of the child's answer. In fact, if you think about it, the flat dan was also a bamboo shoot, and throughout the ages, naughty and naughty mischief is the nature of children.

At this point in the Q&A, Y still seems to be at a loss, what should I do next?

For example, Y knows how to respect and appreciate the child, knows how to take the child with him no matter how hard it is, and knows how to stand by the child's side no matter how unbearable it is...... This method of raising children, I have heard many psychology teachers say that as long as Y persists, he can undoubtedly raise a child with a rich heart. The child's heart is rich and strong, what is there to fear in the future?

As for the question of whether to take the child to the hospital to see a psychologist, on the one hand, there is a saying that "doctors do not knock on the door", and on the other hand, there is also a motto in the psychological counseling service industry, which says "who is in pain, who asks for help, who changes". What is certain is that at present, the mood of child Y is stable, eats and sleeps well, reads diligently, and there is no major problem in behavioral and mental health, but the personality is unique and different.

Speaking of which, I can't help but explain why it is not recommended that parents take their children (primary and secondary school students) to the hospital to see a psychiatrist at every turn.

Unfortunately, we still lack a culture of tolerance, and once a child is put on a hat with psychological problems, he may often encounter strange eyes from people around him (including parents) for no reason for the rest of his life. A Chinese psychology teacher I met a few years ago reminded me that it is common for men, women and children to see a psychiatrist on the other side of the ocean, but on this side of the ocean, minor children must be cautious when they go to the hospital to see a psychiatrist. When the psychology teacher returned to China to provide psychological counseling services to primary and secondary school students at the request of their parents (except for those diagnosed with mental illness), the location was in a private room in a public place such as a restaurant and teahouse, and in the process of chatting, he quietly conducted psychological evaluation and completed psychological counseling. The teacher explained that children who are growing up are afraid of being "hatted", but in fact, children want to "be themselves" more and want the understanding of those around them.

Or for this reason, the third major task of the "Special Action Plan for Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving Student Mental Health in the New Era (2023-2025)" issued by the Ministry of Education and other 17 departments in 2023 mentions that it is necessary to "standardize mental health monitoring", "carry out mental health assessment at least once every school year for students in upper primary school, junior high school, high school, secondary vocational school, etc.", and "establish and improve the assessment data security protection mechanism to prevent information leakage".

At present, there is no doubt about the scientific theoretical basis and assessment methods for the mental health assessment of primary and secondary school students. On the other hand, although it is not known whether it is an individual case or a common phenomenon, the way of thinking of parents who are in a hurry to "put a hat" on students and let parents take their children to the hospital to see a psychiatrist may still be biased, and it is also contrary to the original intention of the special action plan to teach students according to their aptitude and promote the all-round development of students' physical and mental health.

Obviously, whether a student suffers from mental illness requires a paper assessment, a comprehensive communication between the school and the family, and the coordination and linkage between the school and all parties in the society, so that a comprehensive assessment can be accurately judged. For primary and secondary school students with abnormal mental health assessment results, in accordance with the requirements of the special action plan of the Ministry of Education, it is recommended that primary and secondary schools should be a top priority, on the one hand, while establishing a "life-long policy" mental health file, they should arrange "one-on-one" interviews with mental health education teachers to identify whether the children with abnormal assessments want to "be themselves" On the other hand, efforts should be made to do a good job in the construction of psychological counseling rooms in primary and secondary schools, (as long as they do not touch the red line of the law) to unconditionally accept every student who comes to the psychological counseling room, and unconditionally tolerate every student who walks into the psychological counseling room, so that every student can clearly know that the psychological counseling room is a shelter that can give them (emotional) shelter from the wind and rain and maintain a healthy and upward mood.

After all, don't talk about children, even adults will have problems and emotions, but it is not terrible to have problems and emotions, what is really terrible is that there is no way to ask for help.

(The author is a member of the Dongguan Psychological Counselors Association of Guangdong Province)

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Blue Songtao

Editor-in-charge: Wen Cuiling