Fourth Edition, September 2011

“I’ve noticed that Susan is having a hard time settling in class. She is easily distracted and 
often has diffi
culty focusing. I’m wondering if you’ve noticed this at home?”
Or, you could say something like: 
“Alison seems very quiet in class, and fi nds it diffi
cult to answer questions when I call on 
her, even though she knows the answer. Have other teachers mentioned this before?”
Both of these questions ask about a specifi c behaviour you have noticed, without making a judgment 
about what the cause of the behaviour might be. If the parent agrees that the student may show the be-
haviour at home or in other settings, then you have started the discussion of how you can work together 
to solve the problem.
If the parent says that they never see the behaviour at home or in other settings, then you 
can follow up with a question like:
“I see this behaviour often in class, and it’s aff ecting Alice’s learning. Do you have any sug-
gestions on what we can do to help Alice manage this behaviour?”

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K 3
Talking about Mental Health Problems
Making a Diff erence: An Educators’ Guide to Child and Youth Mental Health Problems
www.cymhin.ca
Again, you have recruited the parent as your partner in solving the problem, and avoided an argument 
about whether the problem exists.
It can be diffi
cult for parents to hear that their child is struggling with a possible mental health problem. 
As a teacher, it can be a challenge to have to tell a parent about your observations. It is often helpful to 
speak with your school counsellor, principal, or vice-principal about ways to talk with parents about these 
kinds of situations.
Sometimes, parents know that their child has a problem, and may not reveal this to the teacher or school, 
for fear that it will aff ect the way their child is treated or change the expectations for their child. Many 
parents report that they feel ‘blamed and shamed’ for having a child with a mental health problem.