What might make things worse might also make things better

The content of this blog might be read by some as being controversial. That is not my intention. Rather I want to explore some ideas that suggest educators might be making things worse when it comes to young people and mental wellbeing, and then apply these ideas in a productive way to physical education. 

I appreciate and respect professionals whose beliefs and practices come from a good place. But this blog was triggered by the work of Lucy Foulkes who asks, when it comes to young people’s mental health, how do we know that teachers are not unwittingly making things worse rather than better. To be more precise, it isn’t teachers per se, the question applies to the approaches undertaken, the policies created, the lessons taught and the conversations had, in other words, this is a systemic issue. 

I will outline Foulkes' arguments which are challenging and potentially disruptive and then I will try to apply them to bring hope and optimism to another very challenging outcome - how do we support young people in developing a positive relationship with physical activity. I have prepared this FREE resource to help teachers do just that.

On a recent trip to the US, I was fortunate to attend a number of excellent conference workshops. In one, a highly respected and experienced practitioner was showing teachers how PE might address mental well-being. Using a parachute and a ball, the students are asked, ‘what makes you anxious’ -  If you can name it, you can tame it.

Foulkes, a psychologist working at Oxford focusing on mental health and young people, argues that to address the widely reported surge in school-age students reporting mental health problems, universal interventions are implemented. Universal interventions are experiences, such as lessons, in which a class of students are taught about psychological wellbeing with the express purpose of ‘tackling mental health problems’. Her work is thoroughly researched, balanced and sympathetic. It allows us to question deeply held beliefs - is there actually an increase in mental unwellness and, if so, why? To answer the latter question she takes the reader on a forensic journey into the evidence for the oft cited culprits - phones and social media, Covid, peer and social pressure etc. Suffice to say, correlations are never straightforward and complex issues are rarely explained by simple answers. But she also asks whether the aforementioned universal interventions are making things worse. 

Let’s return to if you can name it, you can tame it.

Is this the case? A young person who is suffering from anxiety or depression, may well already be able to name it. But more importantly, ask yourself whether such an intervention is going to help them. Is it helpful for them to be reminded of their illness multiple times over the course of a school week or term? And anxiety is an illness with clearly defined symptoms that are listed in the 5th and latest version of the bible on mental illness, of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (usually referred to as the DSM).

And herein lies the problem, young people who may be down or sad or upset are being asked to associate these feelings with, in this case, anxiety. Regular, everyday emotions are being pathologised. And it is perfectly feasible, that if the same young people are then asked to complete surveys answering questions such as, how many times in the last 2 weeks, do you remember feeling anxious or down, more young people are likely to report higher incidences. This leads to reaffirmation of the belief that young people today are in the midst of a mental health crisis, leading to a number of well intentioned organisations and teachers to centre mental health as a key driver of physical education. In other words, PE has become one of the universal interventions that Foulkes critiques. That’s not to say that being physically active does not have the capacity to make each of us feel better (although let’s not forget that PE has a well documented and long track record of shamefully making students feel worse), but, should PE justify itself as being primarily for the mental (and physical) health of young people ie for non-educative outcomes?

Foulkes talks about a cycle that is created that she refers to as the prevalence inflation hypothesis in which, not only do universal interventions not help the students who need it the most, but there’s evidence that students who are not suffering from mental illness, learn to believe that they are. These students then seek comfort and support from other young people who share the same beliefs. This misdiagnosis is not only self fulfilling but it is identity forming, the young person begins to identify as someone who is not mentally well. This is referred to as concept creep. 

A couple of years ago, in a discussion with a well intentioned PE teacher who was a proponent of explicitly teaching for a range of supposed life benefits including mental wellness, I asked him how he and his team were equipped to tackle such complex and sensitive matters as, I was unaware of these issues being looked at in depth in any pre or in-service teacher education. His reply - ‘we know the basics’. And how do you evidence and evaluate it, I asked. ‘Anecdotally’ was the reply. As Foulkes suggests, it is quite possible that ‘lay’ teachers delivering a programme without any systematic evidence of impact, might well be making things worse. 

But here’s the optimistic sting in the tail…could we use this logic to support more positive identity formations? If, until presented with evidence to the contrary, we assume that Foulkes is correct and that consistent messaging can impact young people’s sense of self, might we be able to support more young people identifying as active people. 

Identity is formed out of dialogue. What we feel about ourselves is the result of interactions with others. We have multiple versions of ourselves. It is our job to help every young person find their active self. This is not merely a matter of introducing them to lots of different activities. 

The impact teachers can have is wonderfully depicted in the children’s book, The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds in which an annoyed Vashti refuses to draw in Art class. Spoiler Alert - her tantrum is handled brilliantly by her teacher and Vashti begins to see herself as a bona fide artist. By the end of the book, she had her first exhibition consisting of beautiful pictures of… you guessed it….dots!

The teacher found a way in. The teacher started with where the child was at and worked with it. The teacher did not judge or attach an ‘ability’ label or compare to a standardised norm or a global threshold. The teacher did their job, supporting Vashti in making progress and helping her identify as an artist. 

miMove is built on these principles. It allows us to see where every young person is at in their activity journey by hearing them and capturing evidence of if, how, when and why they are engaging in physical activity - the universal goal of physical education. By using this information, every student can be supported in developing an active identity whether they happen to represent the school in Netball, take part in dance or martial art, cycle to school or skateboard with their friends. Whatever, however, whenever, wherever - we can validate, acknowledge and celebrate - in order to help all young people ’find their playgrounds’ (Kretchmar, 2000). If we stay in our lane and deliver on our primary objective of helping more young people develop a deep and sustainable relationship with their bodies and physical activity, there is, of course, more chance that more young people will be physically and mentally healthier but this is an outcome, not a driver. And to do this, we need to know much more about the young people we work with. 

Click here to download a FREE resource of Top Tips to Help Students Develop and Active Identity

References

Foulkes, L. &  Andrews, J. (2023) Are mental health awareness efforts contributing to the rise in reported mental health problems? A call to test the prevalence inflation hypothesis,New Ideas in Psychology, Volume 69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2023.101010

Foulkes, L. (2022) What Mental Illness Really Is…(and what it isn’t) Vintage, London

Kretchmar R.S. (2000) Movement Subcultures: Sites for Meaning, Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 71:5, 19-25, DOI: 10.1080/07303084.2000.10605140