08/12/2025
Every child who walks into school carries two backpacks.
One is visible its filled with notebooks, books, lunchboxes, and carefully sharpened pencils, pens and other stationary items. It is easy to notice, easy to adjust, and easy to prepare.
The second backpack cannot be seen.
This invisible backpack carries their emotions, thoughts, fears, pressures, and quiet hopes. It carries the tone of the home they just walked out of. It holds the words they heard that morning ,the ones that encouraged them, and the ones that may have hurt more than they could explain. It holds small wins, silent worries, and big feelings that have not yet found their voice.
Some children enter school feeling safe and seen.
Others enter carrying anxiety, confusion, or loneliness. And,some carry confidence born from consistent love.Others carry the heavy burden of expectations, comparisons, or unspoken tension.
This is not weakness. This is not disobedience. This is mental and emotional weight.
As educators and parents , we often see this weight in their behavior that is reflected through restlessness, withdrawal, anger, silence, perfectionism, or fear. These are not problems to be punished, but signals to be understood and to keep in mind that every behavior is a form of communication.
And, God reminds us that children are precious, deeply seen, and tenderly held in His hands. They are not just learners but they are hearts that need shepherding, minds that need safety, and souls that need reassurance.
And this is where the role of parents becomes sacred.
Before packing your child’s school bag, pause and check the invisible one.
Ask to yourself:
Did my child leave feeling emotionally safe today?
Did I model calm or chaos?
Did my words lift them up, or did they leave feeling small?
Did I connect with their heart before correcting their behavior?
Children’s mental health is not built in big conversations alone it is built in quiet moments. In the tone you use when they make mistakes. In the way you listen without interrupting. In the hugs that last an extra second. In the way you apologize when you are wrong. In the way you make home a place where feelings are not dismissed.
Your child may not remember everything you pack in their lunchbox.But they will remember how heavy or light their heart felt when they left home.
That invisible backpack will shape how they learn, how they relate to others, how they see themselves, and how they understand love and safety in the world.
Please remember, you cannot take away every challenge your child will face, but you can soften what they carry inside.
Check the invisible backpack. Lighten the emotional load. Protect their mental health as carefully as you protect their physical well-being.
Because the weight they carry in their heart is just as real as the bag they carry on their back.
✍️Joy Christin Jonson
