During a recent visit to schools in Nairobi, a conversation with a secondary school principal left us thinking about a question that deserves much more attention:
Who supports the people supporting our young people?
As we spoke about mental wellness, student support and the realities facing schools today, the principal described a growing set of challenges coming through his office.
Then he said something:
“I was not trained for this.”
It was a simple statement, but it carried a lot of weight.
Teachers and school leaders enter the education system prepared to teach, guide and manage classrooms. But increasingly, they are also finding themselves responding to challenges that extend far beyond the traditional classroom.
In one conversation, we heard about students dealing with issues including cyberbullying, suicide attempts, crime, abductions, sexual and reproductive health concerns, and difficult relationships between schools and parents.
These are not small problems.
And they do not disappear when the school bell rings.
For school leaders, the responsibility can become overwhelming. A principal may be expected to support a student experiencing a serious personal crisis, manage disciplinary concerns, engage parents, support teachers, meet administrative demands and still ensure that learning continues.
All this while managing their own lives and pressures.
The principal we spoke with acknowledged that the strength of his team has been critical in keeping the school moving.
“If it were not for the great team I have, the school would crumble.”
That statement made us pause.
Because behind every functioning school is a group of people carrying responsibilities that may not always be visible.
And what about the teachers?
Our conversation also touched on some of the pressures teachers themselves experience.
Teachers are often expected to be a source of stability for their students. But they are human beings too.
They have financial responsibilities. They have families. They have personal struggles. They worry about retirement. They experience stress.
And sometimes, the person standing at the front of the classroom may be carrying something heavy that nobody in the room knows about.
This raises an important question:
Are we giving teachers the tools and spaces they need to navigate the realities they are facing?
Young people are carrying their own realities
The challenges facing students are equally complex.
Conversations around schools and young people continue to bring up issues such as early pregnancies, substance use, cyberbullying, crime, sexual exploitation and the pressures that come with growing up in difficult environments.
For many young people, school is not separate from these realities.
They walk into the classroom carrying them.
And when a student is struggling, the teacher may become one of the first people expected to notice, respond and intervene.
That is a significant responsibility.
Perhaps the conversation needs to change
One lesson we are taking away from these conversations is that meaningful engagement begins with listening.
It is easy to walk into a school and explain what an organisation does.
It is much more useful to first ask:
What are you dealing with?
What is making your work difficult?
What are your students struggling with?
What support do you wish you had?
Those questions open a different kind of conversation.
They allow us to move beyond assumptions and understand what people are actually experiencing.
At Amazing Potential, our work around mental wellness is therefore not simply about telling people to “be strong.”
Sometimes, people need a space to say:
“This is too much.”
And sometimes, they need someone to respond:
“We hear you. Let’s figure out what support could look like.”
The challenges facing our schools cannot be solved by teachers alone.
They require parents, school leadership, communities, organisations, policymakers and young people themselves to be part of the conversation.
Because if the people supporting our young people are struggling in silence, then the conversation about student wellbeing is incomplete.
We cannot ask teachers to carry the weight of an entire generation without also asking who is carrying the teachers.
Amazing Potential is committed to listening, learning and working alongside communities to strengthen mental wellness, leadership and human capacity.
ELEVATING HUMAN CAPACITY.
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