12/07/2024
Yesterday, when I was thinking about my clients and the people that I have helped throughout the years that have experienced trauma, I noticed that there is a huge piece of trauma prevention that has been overlooked. One of the things that people with childhood trauma have in common is not having an adult in their life that could have explained to them what they were going through was not their fault and their emotions to that trauma were valid. When I think back on my own childhood trauma I realized that I didn’t have that person either. I think that there could have been people like that out there for me but they also didn’t know how to spot or help a child who had gone through trauma.
This made me think what we can do as a society to help there be a support for children who gone through trauma or have mental health struggles. One part of this is having psychology classes in schools at all grade levels. Having these classes focus on coping skills, boundaries, healthy relationships, empathy, etc. On top of all that having teachers trained and educated to know how to support these kids more effectively.
I believe that if these changes were to happen then there would be a ripple effect of health in our society. We would have less mental health struggles and a stronger society as whole. This is a reason that schools need funding. Schools are a huge essential for the health and wellbeing of a society and need be more strongly supported.
Here are a list of benefits for having schools teach psychology based on what they have found through research:

Academic performance
Positive behavior support interventions can improve academic performance and reduce behavioral issues.
Social-emotional learning
Social-emotional learning (SEL) programs can improve academic achievement, student well-being, and peer relationships. SEL can also help address risk factors for su***de, such as anxiety, substance use, and hopelessness.
Critical thinking
Psychology classes can help students develop critical thinking skills by presenting multiple viewpoints and acknowledging moral and ethical gray areas.
Self-awareness
Psychology classes can help students gain self-awareness and insight.
Social and emotional skills
Psychology classes can help students learn social and emotional skills like collaboration and communication.

Classroom environments
Psychological science can provide insights on how to create classroom environments that promote learning.
