We’ve discussed Social Emotional Learning before, but this topic is becoming increasingly important … especially since more and more politicians are trying to frame SEL as some sort of extremist conspiracy, and are passing legislation to ban its use in schools. But effective teachers and principals have always implemented some form of social/emotional training (self-awareness, empathy, resilience, etc.), going back to the earliest days of widespread public education.

By way of review, here are some previous articles where we’ve discussed this topic before and offered links to resources: here, here, here, and here. And with increasing shifts in societal norms, plus a significant rise in teen (and even pre-teen) suicide, this topic is even more important than ever.

Here’s the bottom line: If we don’t spend time now meeting childrens’ social/emotional needs, then we’ll spend time later dealing with the unacceptable behaviors caused by those unmet needs … some of which may end in tragedy.

Either way, we’ll have to spend the time.