If you’ve ever flown on an airplane, you’re probably familiar with this pre-flight safety announcement: “In case of emergency, secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” While helping those around us sounds altruistic, if we can’t breathe, we can’t offer help to others.

In the same way, if we want to take care of children’s mental health, we have to remember that the mental health of the adults around them is equally important. Educators give much of their physical and emotional energy to students, often neglecting their own needs in the process. Just like in the example of the oxygen mask, if we want to teach children good habits for wellbeing, we have to pay equal attention to the mental health of the educators who spend their days caring for them. Here are four ways we can help prioritize adult mental health in schools.

1.      Normalize Mental Health Conversations

We have to treat mental health like we do our physical health, prioritizing the things that help us stay healthy. In school environments, this means creating a workplace culture that supports this idea and provides staff with the resources they need to take care of their mental health in the same way they do their physical health. Schools can do this by talking openly about emotional strain and validating it as part of the work, encouraging mental health days, providing health benefits that include counseling services, offering wellness plans, and allowing time for mindfulness and movement throughout the day. 

2.      Create a Culture of Care.

Within a school community, a culture of care is one that shifts thinking from penalizing mistakes and leading with fear to one that is strengths-based, trusting and believing in teachers' competence and supporting one another. Schools can foster this idea by creating space for educators to explore and share creative approaches to teaching mental health. This means giving teachers dedicated time to collaborate and share ideas with peers, offering professional development opportunities on trauma-informed care and self-regulation strategies, and checking in regularly as a team to celebrate small wins and community impact.

3.      Support Self-Care 

We’ve all heard plenty about the need for self-care. For teachers and school staff, this starts from the top down. When school leaders model appropriate boundaries and self-care, this gives others permission to take care of themselves in the same way. That means more than manicures and bubble baths. We’re talking about paying attention to our bodies and knowing what we need to do to attend to our stress. That includes everything from body basics like eating well, exercising and getting a good night’s sleep, to practicing mindfulness and spending time in nature throughout the day.

4.      Encourage Self-Compassion

In addition to self-care, educators also need to remember to have self-compassion. Teachers face countless emotional demands, whether it’s supporting students through behavioral challenges, balancing conflicting teaching requirements or managing expectations from parents and administrators. It can be hard to remember to respond to these challenges with the same understanding you give others, but that’s exactly what having self-compassion means. It involves speaking to ourselves with kindness and positive self-talk. Mantras like “I can do hard things” or “I am enough” can help educators stay grounded when feeling overwhelmed, so they can get back to supporting the children in their care.

When we normalize mental health, create a culture of care, and equip educators with the tools they need to support their own wellbeing, the children in their care will begin to see what healthy coping strategies look like and why they are important. A lesson that will serve them throughout their lives.