Mental Health in Young Adolescents
Location
Afternoon Symposiums - Undergraduate Honors Research
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Adolescence is a crucial period for emotional and physical development. It is important to acknowledge the physical and emotional changes are to an individual’s mental well-being as it can affect their social and emotional habits. The purpose of this study is to identify the role mental health plays in the academic success of young adolescents by exploring Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) programs within middle schools. Through this research, the research seeks to determine the best practices teachers and counselors recommend to adequately support middle school students’ wellbeing. This qualitative study will include various phases. A series of interviews will be conducted with veteran and novice teachers alike as well as school counselors at middle schools in Bulloch County. These interviews will be semi-structured as the interviewer will provide a list of questions to address how middle school teachers describe wellbeing, best practices for promoting student wellbeing, and suggestions for novice teachers when encountering a mental crisis in the classroom. The findings of the study will be useful for new and current teachers working in middle grade classrooms as we aim to best support our developing adolescents during these extraordinary times.
Keywords
SEL programs, mental wellbeing, young adolescents
Professional Bio
Tamaya Varnedoe is an honors undergraduate student at GSU and seeking to present her capstone research at GERA.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Varnedoe, Tamaya, "Mental Health in Young Adolescents" (2021). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 88.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2021/2021/88
Mental Health in Young Adolescents
Afternoon Symposiums - Undergraduate Honors Research
Adolescence is a crucial period for emotional and physical development. It is important to acknowledge the physical and emotional changes are to an individual’s mental well-being as it can affect their social and emotional habits. The purpose of this study is to identify the role mental health plays in the academic success of young adolescents by exploring Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) programs within middle schools. Through this research, the research seeks to determine the best practices teachers and counselors recommend to adequately support middle school students’ wellbeing. This qualitative study will include various phases. A series of interviews will be conducted with veteran and novice teachers alike as well as school counselors at middle schools in Bulloch County. These interviews will be semi-structured as the interviewer will provide a list of questions to address how middle school teachers describe wellbeing, best practices for promoting student wellbeing, and suggestions for novice teachers when encountering a mental crisis in the classroom. The findings of the study will be useful for new and current teachers working in middle grade classrooms as we aim to best support our developing adolescents during these extraordinary times.
