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Bryanston Parents' Association welcomes Natasha Devon
This year’s annual Bryanston Parents' Association talk was given by Natasha Devon on the all-important issue of mental health.
Talking to an audience of over 150 parents, Natasha, reinforcing that we all have a mental health that needs looking after, focused on three core areas - critical thinking, healthy coping mechanisms and emotional vocabulary.
Anxiety is the fastest growing illness in the under 21s, but by making mental health a universal conversation we may be able to help them deal with the plethora of issues that they face, from the unconscious narrative of social media and advertising (only 9% of our thinking is actually conscious), to the increased stress of exams and worries over tertiary education debt.
Natasha packed a lot of information into her talk, explaining how one in three children are set to experience a mental health problem, it is a stark reminder of the importance of helping our children adopt good habits now (habits – good and bad – take only two weeks to be entrenched), so that they can develop coping strategies for what life might throw at them. As parents, however, Natasha pointed out that we may not be best placed to help our children overcome or resolve issues, but being good listeners, understanding their language, encouraging them to do exercise, art, drama and music and knowing where to find appropriate help and support are all positives we could be doing.
Natasha will be returning to Bryanston next year to talk to the pupils. Handouts and a list of YouTube videos that she used to support her talk are available from the BPA at bpa@bryanston.co.uk.