To support students of color, educators must understand the impact of discrimination and racism on mental health.
Educators and mental health providers must develop an understanding of how students' racialized experiences affect their mental health. Often, teachers think they are "color-blind," but with professional development, educators can learn to examine their own experiences with race and the subtle ways they may inadvertently reinforce stereotypes. This reflection helps teachers better recognize and address students' race-related stress and trauma, and can ultimately improve their academic and social-emotional functioning.
Toxic Stress
Educators and mental health professionals must understand the well-documented effects of poverty and discrimination on mental health outcomes for students like Mohammed (Williams & Williams-Morris, 2000). When people experience poverty and discrimination, they often have increased levels of toxic stress. This stress can result in symptoms of depression and anxiety, which are often expressed as heightened vigilance. Explicit racism, such as overt acts of violence or verbal racial slurs, results in both externalizing and internalizing psychosocial symptoms, such as challenges to authority (externalizing) and withdrawal (internalizing). (Pachter & Coll, 2009; Wong, Eccles, & Sameroff, 2003). But even perceived experiences of discrimination can result in similar mental health outcomes.
Micro-aggressions: The Everyday Assault
Some examples of micro-aggressions include teachers continuously mispronouncing students' names, students repeatedly being asked for IDs when entering schools, and educators being hypervigilant about the behavior of students of color in the hallways, at recess, or in the cafeteria. Additionally, white peers or teachers might indicate that they expect black students to be better at basketball or that they think Asian students don't have to study as hard for math exams, for instance. Although these off-handed comments may seem harmless, students of color can experience micro-aggressions as persistent and relentless, which can lead to greater feelings of marginalization and emotional exhaustion.
Singleton stresses that before engaging in these conversations, it is important to set norms and rules. He encourages teachers to commit to four agreements: stay engaged, tolerate discomfort, speak your truth, and expect and accept non-closure.
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December 2017/January 2018 | Volume 75 | Number 4
Mental Health in Schools Pages 51-55
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