By Nathan Sommer
Murphy News Service
Charlene Myklebust remembers going to school at 10 years old in North Minneapolis with dozens of classmates living in poverty and “feeling like the teachers had just given up on them.”
It was that experience that partially inspired Myklebust to pursue a career in public education and mental health.
Myklebust knows her stuff. She holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and is a former National Alliance on Mental Illness “Educator of the Year.”
She stressed the importance of viewing student poverty through a mental health perspective during a Nov. 6 presentation titled “Wrong Side of the Tracks: How Poverty Impacts Student Learning and Mental Health.”
Myklebust urged educators during that session at the Unity Hospital Auditorium in Fridley to create better relationships with students affected by the problem.
Anoka County currently has the lowest per capita income and highest student poverty rates in the seven-county metro area, ranking 13th in the state.
Myklebust, speaking to audience of 90 educators, social workers and members of the public, said the brains of non-poor children are vastly different from those of the poor children. Poor children represent 22 percent of American students and are three times more likely to suffer from mental health disorders such as ADHD, anxiety and depression, she said.
Those children are also more likely to act out in school and be hostile or resistant to assistance. Myklebust said individual educators can significantly influence many factors that can improve the brains of children living in poverty despite the fact that they have limited influence over public policy,
“The brain is not a vessel that we fill up,” Myklebust said, adding “it is an interactive organ that grows as conditions change” and reacts to positive and negative stimulants in the environment.
Myklebust said educators must embrace the “new paradigm” in teaching and create a more positive, welcoming environment for these students rather than disciplining or ignoring their bad behavior.
She said the single most important aspect of that change will come from dedicated emotional support and a caring relationship with an adult influencer outside of the home. Needy children at times are resistance making maintaining a relationship tougher.
“It is not the child’s job to make the teacher feel emotionally comfortable,” Myklebust said, adding that “there is not a child who is going to change if there is not an adult interested in seeking a positive relationship with them.”
Myklebust said positive adult/child relationships have proven to stimulate brain activity and reduce the likelihood of poor students developing mental health disorders that prevent them from reaching their potential. Some of the strategies at work to promote better potential include, pairing health with safety support, nutrition and consistent cognitive stimulation, such as daily physical education and relaxation exercises.
Myklebust said it is unprofessional and unethical for educators to give up on troubled students, claiming that a lot of educators’ weaknesses come from “not knowing what creative alternatives exist.” Just as with doctors in hospitals who don”t give up on troubled patients, teachers should not abandon students in critical social condition., she said, adding that suspending or ostracizing poor students for their behavior is often problematic. Such punishment, she said, rarely changes behavior and embarasses the student, causing them to act out more.
Myklebust said teachers must, instead, work to shape the behavior of those students by making them feel special and respected by giving them responsibilities, in-class jobs and socializing them with the rest of the class.
Becky Fink, executive director of the Nucleus Clinic reproductive center, agreed with Myklebust’s argument but said a lot of work needs to be done to improve conditions for students affected by poverty.
“There is no question that we have enough information about these issues and what we can do to make them better,” Fink said. “What we are lacking is the political will, insight and energy necessary to maintain such work.”
Reporter Nathan Sommer is studying journalism and the University of Minnesota.