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

Yes my son is diagnosed ADHD and Asperger . Anxiety plays huge part in his daily life so we try to keep on top of his emotional well being as best we can and help him deal with what life throws at us

I actively go out of my way to talk to my son about emotional wellbeing - I am a very open person and want him to know that it is ok to feel what he is feeling and that he can talk to mummy and daddy or anyone he feels comfortable talking to anytime he needs to without judgement - my parents were sadly the complete opposite which is why I know the importance of it with my son - his school also offers mindfulness sessions which I think is amazing and so important

Its difficult, a lot of time at school children are actually under stress, and if you try to talk to them while they are stressed out its hard to reach their core and understand how they are feeling.

I think its important from an early age to encourage your child to open up and talk about their feelings - for instance at one time our son thought it was wrong to feel angry - I had to explain to him that its not "wrong" but it is how you feel, and if you feel angry because of something then that is fine, but it is how you control your anger that is important, i.e. its best to find time out, or alone if you really feel so angry to calm down as you cannot think straight when you are very emotional, and that after you calm down you may think differently.

I think a lot of the time we forget to explain to our children that the way a person thinks can be totally different when emotions come into play with our minds, and also that some children are under extreme stress at home as well as school and so may not react the same as them in the same circumstance.

Its one of those very difficult things, as children are all different, even siblings! But if you can keep the lines of communication open for as long as you can for when they become teenagers!!!!!

Whatever your tatic, bear in mind that you dont want to increase stress by poking questions. Its hard when you love someone so much and want to help or make them feel better..... keep your mouth shut and your ears open... you go at their pace (no matter how annoyingly slow it may seem). If you dont talk now you need to build it up by spending time together... you can have a cup of tea and just relax without talking, its all about building their confidence in you as someone who will listen rather than be reactive to what they say. You have to to remember its you listening to them talk about how they feel, not you interpreting what they say, or suggesting a solution, just let yourself be somewhere they can let their emotions out.

It is something that I have become more and more aware of especially with the recent publicity. I believe just asking ‘are you alright?’ is not enough and it is something to persist at. Giving time aside and asking the right questions help but talking from my own experience, I hid my feelings and fears from my parents and never talked about them.
Watching for changes in behaviour has alerted me in the past that someone needs some help.

I'm lucky in that both my children share everything with me, and we encourage talking about our feelings all the time

My daughter is too young really but I have seen some children suffer with negative body image and anxiety from such a young age.
I always try and tell her she’s beautiful. And I hope that being supportive and open will help her be able to talk to me about anything

Not really, but that is because we do not fully understand

i try to share my feelings with the children and reassure them that it's good to share theirs whether they are happy or sad x

i do with my older children , but my 5 year old i havent started yet. I will introduce it as she gets a little older though

I try to find out how she is feeling and what made her feel like that.

I tried to ensure that they had the words to label different emotions when little. Any conversations we have tend to result from situations as they arise or after reading a book or seeing television or the news.

My eldest son is 16 and has suffered a lot of stress. He is doing A levels now and it's so much more pressured than when I did it. The environment is very strict where he goes, it's called school now rather than college. We talk to him and he has also spoken to his GP which was very helpful. My other children are much younger but I always encourage them to talk about their feelings if they are concerned or upset about anything.

I haven’t really spoken to my daughter much about well being but she does always speak to me if she is ever worried about something or concerned. She is only 9 so social media isn’t an issue yet

yes. I always tell my son that if there's anything bothering him or worrying him that its important he talk to me about it. A problem shared is a problem halved and i can help him once i know x

I talk to my children about how they feel and about how it's okay to feel sad or angry as well as happy and they can talk to me, their Dad, etc about how they are feeling and about whatever may be worrying them. I think keeping the lines of communication open is really important as they get older and just letting them know you are there for them and won't judge them.

Mental health is top of the agenda in the school I work in along with lots of schools.

my daughter is very good at opening up about stress etc as she is at stage of taking exams. Talking is great as it makes me aware of what she is going through and if there is anything I can help her with.

No

I make sure that when I ask about a child's well being I don't make it about me, my feelings or try and guilt them.
I ask questions and encourage the kids to take some time to think about how they feel and write it down if they're struggling to express themselves.
My Aunt recently came to me as my cousin was experiencing exam stress. I asked her to find out the school and colleges policy on resits. Just knowing he could resit them multiple times if he needed to really helped decrease his stress levels.

Yes, the importance of being positive and having good friends.

Yes we do and make a point of trying to get our ds to be open with us and chat about how he is feeling and to speak to us no matter how small or insignificant he thinks it is. Small things soon build up and become bigger things if not addressed.

My little girl is a bit young yet but I plan to talk to her when she's older.

Yes of course! We do so an a regular basis

I think mine are too young at mo, but i will in future

I try not to make something out of nothing whilst keeping an eye on them if that makes sense!

Simple, teach by example and always have a listening ear.