Concerns Over Social Emotional Learning
The Pony Express Editorial Board
The Pony Express Editorial Board
Social Emotional Learning was a program mandated statewide and introduced onto the Pioneer campus on Sept. 7. SEL is a curriculum that was put into motion to help students learn about gratefulness and mental health. These lessons were initially piloted by the counselors and starting second semester will be instructed by third period teachers during FLEX.
Both students and teachers find that the content being taught in this new program is not only unhelpful to students’ mental health, but can actually be detrimental, which completely defeats the initial goal of the program.
Students who went through the pilot program felt that the SEL topics and content were confusing to comprehend. Students noted that rather than helping them through mental and emotional struggles, SEL instead, invalidated their feelings. Another complaint students had about this new program was that SEL meetings appeared to be geared towards younger children, rather than high schoolers, which made many students less willing to participate. The pandemic affected students’ mental health and as a result many are dealing with mental health issues that can not be solved by hour-long workshops that focus on general topics such as gratuity and giving.
Furthermore, forced share-outs, which are a major part of the program, can make students uncomfortable and negatively impact their mental health.
Teachers had similar concerns as students regarding the program. Multiple teachers stated that they think the content of the program is not helpful or supportive to students’ mental health, and believe that at best the program is useless and at worst detrimental. Teachers also felt unprepared to deliver the SEL curriculum, as they received little to no training on the program. Without the proper training, teachers will be unable to help students through these mental challenges.
Not only are the students and teachers unhappy with the content being taught through the classes, they are also unhappy with the fact that they have to give up two valuable FLEX periods.
Students only get eight FLEX periods a month and having to use two of those periods for SEL, will have major effects on students’ workloads. FLEX is meant to help students catch up with work, retake tests and meet with teachers. SEL will take important time away from students that need it to improve grades and lower the workload at home. By removing these important periods, students will be put under more stress than they are already put under. Additionally, numerous students who participate in sports and extracurricular activities outside of school, use that time to be productive and get work done so they don’t have to stay up too late doing homework.
No two students have the same mental health issues, and no solution will work for everyone. If the school and district are truly concerned about the health of Pioneer students, the entire campus should be involved in the process of creating a solution, rather than just feeding us a canned program.
Both students and teachers find that the content being taught in this new program is not only unhelpful to students’ mental health, but can actually be detrimental, which completely defeats the initial goal of the program.
Students who went through the pilot program felt that the SEL topics and content were confusing to comprehend. Students noted that rather than helping them through mental and emotional struggles, SEL instead, invalidated their feelings. Another complaint students had about this new program was that SEL meetings appeared to be geared towards younger children, rather than high schoolers, which made many students less willing to participate. The pandemic affected students’ mental health and as a result many are dealing with mental health issues that can not be solved by hour-long workshops that focus on general topics such as gratuity and giving.
Furthermore, forced share-outs, which are a major part of the program, can make students uncomfortable and negatively impact their mental health.
Teachers had similar concerns as students regarding the program. Multiple teachers stated that they think the content of the program is not helpful or supportive to students’ mental health, and believe that at best the program is useless and at worst detrimental. Teachers also felt unprepared to deliver the SEL curriculum, as they received little to no training on the program. Without the proper training, teachers will be unable to help students through these mental challenges.
Not only are the students and teachers unhappy with the content being taught through the classes, they are also unhappy with the fact that they have to give up two valuable FLEX periods.
Students only get eight FLEX periods a month and having to use two of those periods for SEL, will have major effects on students’ workloads. FLEX is meant to help students catch up with work, retake tests and meet with teachers. SEL will take important time away from students that need it to improve grades and lower the workload at home. By removing these important periods, students will be put under more stress than they are already put under. Additionally, numerous students who participate in sports and extracurricular activities outside of school, use that time to be productive and get work done so they don’t have to stay up too late doing homework.
No two students have the same mental health issues, and no solution will work for everyone. If the school and district are truly concerned about the health of Pioneer students, the entire campus should be involved in the process of creating a solution, rather than just feeding us a canned program.