Social Emotional Health Is a Global Issue

A recent international summit established educational standards of equity and quality with a focus on early childhood for schools around the world. Most notably, this global consensus honored the cross cutting nature of education, from promoting literacy to teaching physical well-being. More than achieving basic mathematical skills and attaining other content area knowledge, this international panel charged schools with helping children deal with real-life issues of poverty, war, violence, and disabilities, among many other realities. Our children must be taught resilience in order to thrive in a turbulent world.

The key to resilience is being socially and emotionally healthy; it is the basis of all successful human endeavors. By acknowledging this on an international level, we are now reminded that the educational process must also emphasize social and emotional literacy. This acknowledgement also reminds us that without having self-awareness, relationship skills, and other important components of social emotional health, our children will be unable to navigate through our current environment.

Beyond geographic borders, socioeconomic status, and any other demographic and man-made check boxes, this international summit has highlighted the moral imperative for all of us to tend to the social and emotional health of our children- it is needed now more than ever.