PROTECTION OF CHILDREN - YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH IN A SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Maintaining good mental health in childhood is an important element of healthcare for each country. Efforts to protect child health are being are being carried out not only by medical, health and social care specialists, but also by the people who make up the social circle of the child. During this period, parenting techniques, as well as their behavior and attitude towards the child, play a vital role. Especially important is the support and assistance that parents and relatives give to the child in communicating with him. When unacceptable parenting practices, that degrade the child's personality, are undertaken, family counseling is needed to reduce the psycho-emotional stress and harassment applied to the child's psyche. To a great extent, worrying, depressive, neurotic and psychotic conditions are due to an inadequate family and social environment. The lack of conditions for development and proper social functioning of the child causes emotional imbalance, which the child can hardly cope with.In the case of untimely taken measures during school-age, psychotic disorders can cause many problems, the overcoming of which necessitates the inclusion of professionals from different fields. Child psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers and educators form a multidisciplinary team that adequately takes decisions with regard to information received from parents, relatives and institutions. Mental health professionals have definedmanifestations of themental diseases as: emotional disorders, phobias, anxiety states and depression, aggression and antisocial behavior, hyperkinetic disorders, developmental disorders, primarily affecting children with autism and those with pervasive developmental disorders. The multidisciplinary team also takes action to implement the decisions taken to improve the quality of life of people experiencing difficulties in their personal development. Often in school age in people who do not have pathological changes in mental development, the social environment is this important factor that determines their behavior by which they are graded in society. Lack of attention by parents, excessive rigidity, strictness, hyperprotection, family conflicts and problems, school and social difficulties, predispose to a negative behavioral change. Behavioral anomalies are indicative of the low percentage of pupils with mental health problems attending mass schools. They self-exclude themselves from school and society as a whole because of the inability to meet the expectations of the environment. The individuals fall into social isolation as it predisposes them to participate in antisocial actions. This is a major reason for imprisonment, social degradation and marginalization.Teacherswithinschoolsarewellplacedtoobservechildrenday-to-dayandidentifybehaviourwhichsuggeststhatthechildmaybesufferingfrom a mentalhealthproblemorbeatrisk of developingone.