Do you talk to your children about emotional wellbeing? Share with the GDST for a chance to win a £300 John Lewis voucher

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There’s been a huge change over the years in how we speak out mental health, and it’s becoming more and more apparent that we need to be educating our children about their emotional wellbeing as well. The Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), a family of 25 schools across the UK, would like to hear your views on how we can help children to be happy and feel good in the world.

What do you think affects your children's mental health and how do you talk to them about it? Do you think exam pressure or even entrance exams cause your children stress? Does social media affect your children? Do they talk to you about their emotions or do you approach the topic of mental health if you see them struggling? Do you think mental health and wellbeing should be discussed and taught in schools?

Please share how you talk to your children about their emotional wellbeing and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks

MNHQ

Terms and conditions apply

We talk about how our days have been. What has made us happy, what has made us upset. Just don't hide stuff from your kids & they will learn to open up too.

we often talk to our son as he is very sensitive although happy go lucky in nature.

i try my best to, but not always easy

we spend half hour a day chatting over tea about lierally everything, my kids have done this since they were walking so we are very open and discuss everything openly

I am always asking my eldest who is 6 about how he feels, i want him to grow up believing if he has something bothering him or even proud of something to just share. Making discussions about feelings the norm, he knows he can always come to his mum, dad or family member and we will do everything we can to male it better! So far so good!

we always encourage them to talk about anything that is worrying them and then hopefully they will not let it get to them to much

It's very important. They know about my depression and the things I do to treat it. We always have talks around the dinner table about how the week has gone and how they are feeling. We talk about the best ways they can manage their feelings and things that are troubling them

I have always spoken to my children about emotional wellbeing and now my children do the same with their children.I believe it's a very important part of parenthood

We just encourage her to talk about anything that's bothering her and not to keep secrets.

I think schools should be encouraged to talk about mental health to stop illnesses such as depression being seen as something to feel ashamed of.

We've been lucky in that our son has always been quite open with us about how he feels. We've always talked and encouraged him to think about how he wants to choose to react. Using movies to show how different characters have dealt with issues has also been useful. Knowing we have the power to choose has been important as has watching something funny or getting outside to break the mood.

My dc is rather sensitive so we talk about our emotions quite a lot and I ensure I am encouraging. I would like the school to discuss either in class or assembly too, so that children can be more mindful and sensitive to others' feelings

My children are only young, however I do ask them most days how they are and what they feel like. As they get older I hope they learn that they can tell me anything and be open to us.

Very high on the agenda in this house (and her school) after a girl in her year took her own life a few months back. She's still struggling with it, despite counselling at school etc etc. To me, exams/part time work etc etc do not matter at all, just that no-one else follows suit

I have felt some tension between high expectations of behaviour/ ensuring that the link is made between behaviour and consequences on the one hand and being nurturing and building self belief and self acceptance on the other. They are not mutually exclusive, but sometimes I think I've done one at the expense of the other a bit.

While we don't refer to it a taking care of our "Mental health and wellbeing," we regularly discuss and apply different strategies that can help us deal with life's challenges.
I've had anxiety that was helped by Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and it's pretty similar to the approach we take. We also explore the "What ifs..?" so they already know how they could react or deal with a specific situation that worries them.

Mine are still young but I make sure we sit down each day for our dinner and talk about our day and how they are. Making time to talk each day and keeping an eye on them is a good start I think.

My daughter is now a teen. Facing choices for school subjects, exams, social media and friendships. Everyday I speak to her about how she is feeling, what's happened and what is coming up. I feel she needs to decompress otherwise her emotions build and then it comes out negatively. I want her to express what she feels with me knowing that happy/sad/angry its all ok, and I'm here to listen.

My daughter is autistic so we talk a lot as she needs to vent and have feelings explained to her so she can work through them

i encourage my children to express their feelings at all time and i make sure i dont criticise or over analyse their reactions

We just make sure they know we're always there if and when they want to talk and that it's just school, it's not the end of the world!

We have always had discussions & debates with our son, over any & every subject. Having brought up in a very open family, I hope that he would have no issue voicing any emotional concerns he had

Yes, I think it is really important to make your DC understand they can speak to you about anything, no problem is too big or small. :)

Olivia is too young to talk about this sort of thing but when she is old enough I think it's important to discuss their feelings especially as I was bullied at school & never opened up about it so I don't want Olivia to go through the same thing as me

Yes I do as I try to take a holistic approach to health, including MH so we just talk sometimes about keeping well. There is so much pressure to fit in that MH is often kept hidden. the more we all talk the less of a stigma it becomes.

My eldest has ADHD and ASD so yes, it's pretty much a daily conversation