What kids can do to prepare for school and improve their mental health

To improve the mental health of Latino youth, AltaMed is working with the Latino community to educate them about their mental health and how to help decrease stigma.

Depression is the most debilitating health issue in the Latino community, according to a NoStigmas report. The CDC also reported that about 4,330 Latino people of all ages died by suicide in 2019. Among those, 2.32%, or 481 people, were younger than 19. 

Returning to school after a summer break or after an extended period of remote learning can be stressful for students. Many children get nervous about unknown situations. Mayra Chavez, Clinical Supervisor for AltaMed’s School Based Programs said that there’s a lot of things parents can do to help emotionally prepare their children to go back to school.

“One of the first things that I would recommend is communicating and talking to their kids about what they're feeling, helping them express their feelings and then having them sort of hear, what is it that they're worried about with regards to going back to school and that way they can kind of problem solve together and then the parents understand what are the concerns that their children are having,” Chavez said. “Another thing that parents can do is also validate their kids' emotions, validate their nervousness or their excitement or the mix of emotions so that the kids understand how they're feeling is normal.”

Toxic stress is endangering the current health of the next generation. The risk factors for toxic stress are severe, intense or prolonged stress, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) like physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Unfortunately, 78% of Latino youth suffer at least one ACE, and 28% suffer four or more, which is why it’s crucial to create a safe space for open communication.

 “One of the best ways to promote an open and safe space with children is actually checking in with them daily about anything and everything, talking to them about getting to know their world and this should start at an early age,” Chavez said. “So, as they get older, it's easier for parents to know what's happening with their children because they've been doing it since they were very little. But just asking them about everything, being curious about their life.” She also said that parents can volunteer at the school so that they know what’s going on with the children at school.

Latino youth are less likely than their peers to get any kind of mental health treatment. 73% of whites diagnosed get treatment for depression, compared to just 63% of Latinos. The percentage is even lower for younger Latinos. “Fewer Latino parents reported that their child had ever used mental health care services (8%) compared to white children (14%),” according to a Salud America! research review. 

Daily communication between parents and their children is one of the best ways parents can promote healthy coping strategies with their children. “Creating a routine to help create stability also helps people feel normal, feel better and feel safe,” Chavez said. “Especially now that they're going back to school… beginning a routine of putting your children to sleep at a certain time, having them wake up at a certain time and just having them be responsible for some of the things that they should be responsible for. Like, for example, putting their school homework in a place or putting their toys in a certain place, having them have a routine, helps them ensure that they're gonna be able to ground themselves.”

Chavez also asserted that another thing parents can begin to do is pay attention when their children are having major physical or behavior changes. “Any sleep changes, any reluctance to go to school for the children is creating that routine and for the parents is monitoring if there are any changes to the routine,” she said. “So, us human, we thrive on stability and consistency. If we begin to create stability and consistency of waking up at a certain time or going to sleep based on a schedule, that routine actually helps us reduce stress and it helps us feel safe and well. The more consistency we can give a child in their return to school, their stress levels are gonna reduce and they're gonna feel calmer.”

Despite high rates of mental health illnesses among Latino youth, they are also less likely to receive clinical or school-based treatment and are less likely to receive medication, according to the National Register of Health Service. 

As mentioned by Chavez, it’s important for children to have a regular routine, especially when it comes to school but it’s also important to set some time for self-care, which is about doing the things that can support mental, physical and emotional wellness.

For children, it means providing plenty of play time and regular exercise to relieve stress and provide a mental break from school and its associated anxiety. Encourage your children to partake in activities they personally enjoy, whether it’s reading, making crafts or spending time outside. Be honest with your children about the stress you’re experiencing as well and set a good example of self-care in your own life. 

“Self care allows the individual to have a moment to check in with themselves and make adjustments. So, if we are stressed, a check-in allows us to sort of recognize, ‘Hey, I'm kind of stressed, right?’ And self care is gonna allow you to do something to take care of that,” Chavez said. “When we ignore stressors, when we ignore problems, they get bigger, they don't go away. Self care helps us not ignore those problems  and instead helps us tackle it.”

Chavez also spoke about how the Latino community hasn’t learned the value of self-care. “When we think of self-care, oftentimes people associate it with, ‘I have to take time away from or I have to prioritize’ and sometimes, especially women in the Latino community, we're not taught culturally to be selfish or is considered selfish, to take care of ourselves. And so part of it is the way I like to explain it to parents,” Chavez said. “The way I like to emphasize it is, imagine that you are holding a water bottle and in your water bottle, it has all of your energy and every day you're gonna have a little problem here and there and you're gonna have a little bit of your water in that bottle because you're gonna put over that little fire that may come up. As you sprinkle a little bit of water on some of your problems, the fire goes away. The problem is better. But what happens when we run out of water in our water bottle? A fire is no longer gonna get put out and it's gonna get bigger because, you know, fire starts off little and then it just gets bigger. Self-care allows you to reignite a little bit of that water inside you, which is a little bit of maintenance.”

She additionally explained that self-care is all about managing and it might look different for everyone. “Sometimes families doing things together is also self-care. Like playing board games together, going for walks together, cooking together. Those are things that as families, if we do them together, it helps the children feel more relaxed and it can also help the parents distract themselves and engage and enjoy time with their children,” Chavez said.

There are many resources available for young Latinos in need of assistance for their mental health. AltaMed and the City of South Gate encourage community members to explore important local behavioral health and mental health resources. 211 LA County serves as the central resource hub for health, human, and social services in L.A. County. Callers receive information and referrals tailored to their needs.

Crisis Text Line

Text HOME to 741741 - The Crisis Text Line connects individuals with a trained crisis counselor to receive free crisis support via text message.

Young Latinos in need of more help can reach the National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 for English and  1-888-628-9454 in Spanish.

If you or a loved one is experiencing a suicidal crisis or emotional distress, please call or text 988 for free, confidential and immediate help.