Wellbeing Support for Parents
Dear Parents and Guardians,
I sincerely hope this finds you well.
I am writing to inform you that today we hosted John Shanahan (MPsych, Grad Dip Ed.), Director of Central Health Partners Child Development Team, a comprehensive inter-disciplinary team that supports families in Hong Kong. John specializes in children and adolescents. We filmed a video of him presenting: ‘Screens and Teens: the impact of video games and social media on mental health and how to manage it’.
John’s presentation included:
- How social media and video games engage us
- The pros and the cons of screen time and use
- How to encourage safe use
- How to recognise when there is an issue, and what to do about it.
This video will shortly be available for you on our school website. Additionally, on Wednesday March 18th, we are hosting Dr Brent Horner at the College, a psychologist who practices at The London Medical Clinic. Brett provides counselling for teens, adults and couples to understand social and emotional problems. He will also be speaking on a topic specific to adolescence and we will share his video with you.
As there are extraordinary demands and pressures upon people in our Sha Tin College community at this time, we hope these two experts offer relevant, helpful ideas. We are sensitive to parents and guardians also having to manage a range of emotions while navigating the daily stream of information and challenges for both your family and yourselves. Here are some resources which may be useful:
- Advice to Help you be a Great Parent. (TED Talks. These talks speak to the complexities of parenthood, offering unusual insights and hard-won advice.)
- Ten Reasons You Should Read Aloud to Big Kids, too.
- Common Sense Media
- Coronavirus: How to Protect your Mental Health (BBC)
I have attached some other resources, as well.
Warm wishes and thanks for your ongoing support.
Chris Rowlands
Vice Principal
Attachment
Building Boundaries for Parents
