Children's Mental Health Week

From the 8th - 14th February marks Children's mental health week. The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of children’s mental health charity Place2Be, has recorded a message to help launch Children’s Mental Health Week 2016.

The theme for this year is building resilience and teaching them how to cope with and come back from challenges they will face in life.  This is hard for an adult so you can only imagine how much harder it will be for a child, however with that said, you will find that sometimes issues as an adult can stem from a childhood incident, bullying for example or from a traumatic time.  Dealing with any problems a child has, no matter how tiny it seems to you, will go a long way in showing them how to deal with the issue and move forward, which in turn, will help them as adults too.

Here are some statistics (England) that Place2Be have given me to share with you all, along with a touching quote.

I find the quote from a young child so inspiring.  It shows that she is thinking of others, how they feel and wants to help them. From an 8 year old that is incredible.  If only more adults thought that way.

Children will face many horrible situations, some unavoidable, for example the death of a loved one. Some, however, will be faced with being bullied which is avoidable if the schools do something about it.  No matter what the situation there are ways to help your child deal with them and come out the other side stronger than ever.

Here are some tips from Place2Be on helping your child.

• Let them know it is perfectly normal to feel upset or angry sometimes.
• Make time for fun or down time with your children to create balance.
• Allow your child to learn from their own mistakes.
• Get advice and support if you are worried about a change in your child.

These are very simple tips, that I admit, I may overlook at times for example trying to get that down time when there is so much to be done while my husband is out at work and I am alone with the children.  

I have always told them that they can talk to me and their dad about anything and we will do our best to help them.  My son had some trouble settling into Primary 2 and was finding the rough play with his friends too much, even though he was involved.  It took a few weeks to get to the bottom of it all and a few conversations with him and the school before we sorted it but now he is happy and everything has calmed down for him.

Yes it was upsetting seeing him so angry and frustrated but we explained everyone gets angry at times and it is fine but it is always good to talk about why.

Ways to get involved with Children's Mental Health week.

You could send out a simple tweet - Love @Place2Be's #ChildrensMHW - building resilience helping children to bounce forward from lifes difficulties http://ow.ly/XAaTg

You can donate here or by texting: CMHW16 £5 to 70070 to give £5.

Fundraise

Here are a few ideas:
Dress Down Day
Spacehopper Bounce-athon
Office Bake-Off
Six Nations Rugby Sweepstake

Please feel free to share this post.  

If you have noticed a difference in your child please seek advice.  Chances are it is something simple and easy to sort but to a child a small problem feels like a massive problem and it may scare them so let them know you are there for them no matter what, it will make all the difference.