Schoolchildren being taught to keep life in perspective

Primary school children are being taught how to keep ­perspective in a bid to stop them overreacting to life’s ups and downs with “catastrophe training” now part of their education.

Primary school children are being taught how to keep ­perspective in a bid to stop them overreacting to life’s ups and downs.

Kids are now taught the four Rs — resilience, rights and respectful relationships — instead of just reading, writing and ’rithmetic.

Schools are giving ­students “catastrophe training”, teaching them emotional literacy and encouraging them to show random acts of kindness to each other.

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The programs come as new research shows anxiety rates in young children have almost doubled in only five years.

Parkhill Primary in Ashwood has adopted a school-wide scale that helps students rate the true seriousness of their problems.

It uses a pyramid ranking that ranges from glitch to catastrophe.

Principal Elaine Brady said the program helped children manage problems and see that most were mere glitches.

“The catastrophe scale goes hand-in-hand with this and leads to the creation of a positive learning environment,’’ Ms Brady said.

“It’s part of stepping away from the idea that a punitive approach solves all problems.

“Breaking a pencil sometimes seems like a crisis but this scale helps them see it only as a glitch compared to someone hitting them or pushing them over.”

Spring Gully Primary School students Mia and Justin, both 7. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Royal Children’s Hospital research reveals alarming childhood anxiety rates.

The analysis, involving more than 15,000 paediatric consultations, shows the proportion of children medically diagnosed with anxiety rose from 4.4 per cent to 7.6 per cent from 2008 to 2013.

Ms Brady said use of the catastrophe scale reflected the complexity of the society students were raised in.

“We have a responsibility to help children understand themselves as learners and this understanding helps them build resilience and look at learning in a positive way,” she said.

“They learn that a lack of success at something is part of the learning journey — it’s part of life.”

Pupils at Spring Gully Primary School near Bendigo act out what it looks like to be happy, sad or anxious to learn how to recognise and better understand their emotions.

“We are teaching our students the skills and strategies that will help them better deal with stressful situations, build greater self-awareness and empathy for others,” principal Francis Trezise said.

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