Written by Dru Ahlborg, Co-Founder and Executive Director of BRRC
Yes indeed, it is the Thanksgiving season and a time that many take time to reflect and practice gratitude. At BRRC, we find ourselves incredibly grateful. This past year we have served 93 new families across the state. We have met hundreds of new families at events we attended that serve families and children in the mental health, LGBTQ+, immigrant/refugee and neurodivergent communities. We hosted our first incredibly successful BELONG Gala and raised money to keep growing and serving bullied children and their families in many different ways. We are working on potential legislation and have launched a parent education class to reach more caregivers before the bullying gets out of control.
Practicing gratitude is a proven strategy for improving mental health for anyone. Studies show that it leads to better psychological health, greater life satisfaction and lower levels of stress and anxiety. A 2014 research study found out that students who keep a gratitude journal on a regular basis experienced an increase in optimism and found more and more reasons to be grateful. The act of identifying gratitude improves relationships, increases social support, and improves mental and physical health.
Practicing Gratitude in Schools:
Research suggests that students who practice gratitude tend to have lower anxiety, stress and depression and feel more satisfied in their life and in their relationships. A school that makes the act of thanking others and expressing gratitude a regular practice can create a culture where students and educators thrive!
A number of schools in Hawaii are taking gratitude to heart and implementing a gratitude program. These programs have led to improved culture, greater feelings of belonging for both students and staff, and addressing mental health concerns that provide nurturing for personal and academic growth. It should come as no surprise that when the culture of schools encompass belonging, support and gratitude, bullying will be less.
Here are the recommendation that these schools have identified to build a gratitude practice within a school:
1. Identify behaviors to appreciate and recognize. The leadership of the school should recognize behaviors they feel complement the framework of the school and focus on community values. Students can and should be involved in this as well. Behaviors should both support academic positive characteristics as well as social characteristics.
2. Talk about the valued behavior(s) with the student body. Speaking about the expected behaviors in the classroom helps the students look and identify the positive behavior and come up with their own ways of recognizing or practicing the behavior. Schools often start with a single behavior for a set time period. Students and staff should all be tasked with defining different ways to identify the behavior(s).
3. Make time for students to write private notes expressing thanks and gratitude. Encouraging one-to-one thank you notes removes the stigma of an audience and assists students with expressing themselves more easily. The act of exchanging the notes not only aids in students learning to express gratitude and thanks, but also the receivers can be recognized for their contributions to the school.
*****
Expressing gratitude may be quite challenging for students who have been relentlessly bullied. Bullying reinforces feelings of isolation, self-doubt and hopelessness that many children deal with. Starting a practice of gratitude no matter how small can slowly help break the cycle of negativity and help children see good in their lives. Practicing gratitude can aid children recovering from bullying to begin to rebuild and foster positive relationships and not be defined by their past experiences.
In conclusion, there are many studies and mental health professionals who tout the wide array of benefits of identifying gratitude. It can be a practice that starts out slowly and grows. It can be adopted by schools to help positively shift cultures for the students and the staff. Gratitude helps improve the physical and mental well-being of those who make it part of their lives. It is a win-win for all and another speed bump against bullying.
