EMPOWERING STUDENT WELLNESS

WHAT IS GOOD FOR OUR CHILDREN

By Matt Edwards (Primary Chaplain) 

One of the biggest battles that our kids and teens face, is that what is good for them does not always match with what they want to do!

I have tried to create a politeness within my eldest son who is almost three years old. Sometimes when I ask him to clean up his messy toys, he will respond with, “No thanks!” Polite? Yes. Taking responsibility for himself? No. And he says it so happily… 

Coupled with all of this, in our hyper individualistic Western world, autonomy is king. ‘No one can tell us what to do, and nothing should stop me from doing what I want. I am my own master.’ It is striking, that many cultures around the world do not operate this way. So how can the next generation choose what is good for themselves, rather than letting their power take them wherever the wind would blow? 

Well, I am glad you asked!

I recall when I would eat out at a buffet dinner with friends, that I would get some salad. If I was asked why I did (because why on earth, by your own volition, would you willingly eat salad!) I responded with, “It will keep my Mum happy.” But what I didn’t realise, was that I was running on habit. I had continued what had become routine for me as I grew up, even if I hadn’t owned it for myself just yet.

As adults, routines are things that we cannot avoid. And we can actually use routines to our detriment too. But our kids need to see how they can be used to enable good things to take place. Because when our kids grow up, they will (hopefully) get and job and be required to be responsible for their own time. They will not live a life that is void of routine, so as they grow have the opportunity to use routines to their advantage. Because routines actually create opportunities. And in a countercultural sense, they create space for things that we find difficult to do. Things such as: resting, remembering (or reflecting), sacrificially serving, and thankfully sharing. 

So over the next few articles I write, I would like to speak about these four beneficial life skills, because they help our kids to recover, learn to navigate future circumstances, give for the sake of others and to see how many good things there are in this world that we live in. And how routines can help them to do this.

For more useful information, follow the below links:

https://askthescientists.com/healthy-family-habits/

https://raisingchildren.net.au/grown-ups/family-life/routines-rituals-relationships/family-routines

https://au.reachout.com/mental-wellbeing/healthy-habits

WELLBEING RESOURCES

We know that it can sometimes be hard to find the necessary resources in relation to mental health, bullying and family violence, especially when things are tough. For this reason, the School has a small webpage with links related to health and wellbeing resources. This can be found on the School's website under Other Resources or can be found here.