Thousands of students around the region will be returning this month to classrooms and large-group settings for the first time in a year, but that doesn’t mean everything is back to normal.

Masks are commonplace. Social distancing rules will be in effect. And in many districts, students are grouped into cohorts, attending school in-person a few days a week, in the mornings or afternoons. And while many children and teens may be looking forward to returning to their friends and routines, they may also be worried about the changes involved.

UW News asked , a UW professor of school psychology who specializes in culturally responsive training for school psychologists, and , a UW professor of child clinical psychology who specializes in evidence-based treatment for children and adolescents, for some back-to-school tips for young people and their families.

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What are some of the things students (and parents) might need to adjust to?

Janine Jones: For those students who have not had a “COVID pod,” or bubble of people that they were in contact with during the past year, they will likely feel unsure of themselves and self-conscious about theirÌýsocial connections.ÌýThere will likely be moments of awkwardness as they try to find their people again.ÌýThey may have moments of wonder about how to interact physically:ÌýFor example, lots of kids naturally hug one another.ÌýNow they have been socialized to avoid doing so.ÌýThey will need to be taught new rules for how to interact with people that they care deeply about. Many of us have had that moment where there is the irresistible urge to hug someone we haven’t seen in forever.ÌýI have found myself sayingÌýatÌýleast once, “OK, tighten up your mask and hold your breath! I’m coming in for a hug!”ÌýKids will need something to guide them into how to show they care in new ways.

Shannon Dorsey: Students are returning to interactions that will look different — but many kids have adjusted so well already to COVID-19 expectations, like that if you’re on the playground, you’re wearing a mask. They can do it, and they already do it! You see chase games with all kids fully masked. In some ways, I think mask-wearing has been a bigger challenge for adults than for kids. Summer camps and parents have organized ways to make distancing feel more normal (sitting in hula hoops, 6 feet apart, or on markings). Strategies that work to change children’s other behaviors can work on mask compliance and distancing, too — like commenting on and praising the things you want to see in students, such as keeping their masks on, and over their noses and mouths.

What might children and teens be anxious about?

SD: Some children and teens may have some social or school anxiety, especially if they were already anxious and had a year of being out of school and large groups. Facing up to fears, like reengaging with peers and being in class, will likely bring on some increased anxiety, but it will decline as the youth gets back into these interactions.

Of course, some youth may also be anxious about the COVID-19 risks of being together in schools. Parents and caregivers can help by reviewing what we know about the science and the actual (versus the perceived or felt) risks of going back to school, and sharing it in developmentally appropriate ways. Masks and social distancing are great prevention strategies. Schools haven’t been major spreaders, when masks, social distancing and cohorts are used, and when cases in communities aren’t too high. If a young person is particularly worried and not feeling confident, parents might work with them to make their own list of reasons school can be safe, which they can review and work into a coping statement. Younger kids might enjoy turning this kind of discussion into a recorded “public service announcement” or poster (just for their own family) — essentially a fun way to help the child internalize that school can be safe.

JJ: There is a continuum of ways that youth are responding to the return. Some are longing to return to school, while others are thriving in their home environments.ÌýAcross the entire continuum, there is anxiety.Ìý Students who are longing to return may experience anxiety about how their friendshipsÌýhave changed. They may worry that they won’t be able to focus in a classroom when they know the teacher is looking at them.ÌýThey may worry about being judged by others because their previous experience at school was not so positive (but they still feel that going back is better than learning alone).

On the other end of the continuum, there may be youth who are socially more introverted.ÌýThey may have anxiety about all of the social challenges they previously experienced when trying to build relationships at school.ÌýIt will feel like the first day of school all over again until they feel connected and comfortable.ÌýIf I (or my school psychology students) are working with youth on either end of the continuum, we would talk with them about their strengths and what makes them feel good about themselves.ÌýIf they happen to be a youth who experiences panic attacks, we would spend time working through specific fears and scenarios well before the return.Ìý We would also have the youth know who the mental health providers are in the school, so that they can prepare to reach out to them if needed.

How can school be a safe, welcoming space to come back to?

ÌýJJ: Schools MUST center the mental health needs of kids right now.ÌýYes, the business of school is all about academic learning, but the truth is that schools must serve the minds AND hearts of our youth.ÌýThe current youth mental health crisis is real.ÌýThe prevalence of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation is higher than ever before.ÌýSchools need to recognize that our youth are bringing their losses, pain, anxiety, and their hopes and dreams to school.ÌýA safe, welcoming environment recognizes the whole child, gives them a place to see themselves as valued and important, and provides a window into a hopeful future.ÌýThe days of pressure cooker education must not return. They need an environment where they can be in community with others and truly feel like they are living and learning together.

How can families and teachers help ease the transition?

SD: Routine changes and transitions are hard for kids. I think we can ease the transition by knowing that the first weeks will be hard. Expectations may be high, and kids may struggle with being back in groups with only some of their classmates. Because this is a big transition and change, it can help to keep some other things and routines the same — like for elementary-age children, maintain bedtime and other activities you’ve established for time after school.

JJ: All adults can spend time normalizing these feelings for youth: Talk about anxiety and fear as feelings that we all have. We have all experienced the complex ways that COVID-19 has impacted us socially. We had to learn new rules to interact with one another virtually, and some of those new rules are skills that we can continue to use in the future.ÌýTalk about hope for the future and how we all have gifts and talents that might look a little different for a few more months, but they still exist within us.ÌýPlan for how to use those strengths every day and make a new place in the world for the new “you.”

All adults should model for the youth in their lives how to focus on what is most important, to not let theÌýsmaller hassles and annoyances take over our emotional well-being.ÌýShowingÌýourÌýyouth how to have aÌýrenewed focus on what is most important and meaningful to them is critical. Adults should share their own examples of how they are able to put the little things of the past in perspective, and teach our youth how to look for and focus their emotional energy on the issues and experiences in life that matter the most to them.

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For more information, contact Jones at jjones2@uw.edu or Dorsey at dorsey2@uw.edu.

For African-American students, data, alongside societal attitudes and stereotypes, often present a negative picture: a wide academic achievement gap separating them from their white peers. Higher rates of discipline and absenteeism. Discrimination by other students, teachers and the larger community. And just last summer, a study indicated that black girls, from an early age, are perceived as more aggressive and sexual – less innocent – than white girls.

But what if, a ÌìÃÀÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½ education professor reasoned, black students were encouraged to explore and embrace their racial identity at school? Could cultivating a positive self-image, exclusively around race and ethnicity, make a lasting difference in student performance and confidence?

The answer, found, was promising. In a published this month in Psychology in the Schools, Jones describes her work last spring at a Seattle-area middle school where African-American girls participated in an after-school program designed to create community around and pride in black culture and identity. Those who did expressed greater confidence and reported, both on their own and through teachers, more connection to and involvement with school.

“There are a lot of girls who check out in school when they feel like they’re not seen, not understood or invested in by school personnel. There are a lot of negative perceptions of African-Americans, and the perception they receive is that it’s not a good thing to be black,” said Jones, director of UW’s School Psychology Program. “We may think it’s easier to avoid it than to address it. But if we start addressing oppression by countering it with the humanness of who these kids are, we’re more likely to keep them engaged and feeling a sense of belonging.”

For this study, Jones adapted a cultural enrichment curriculum called Sisters of Nia (a Swahili term for “purpose”) and, with the help of the principal at a Federal Way middle school, invited African-American girls to join an after-school program that met once a week for six weeks.

In Jones’ abbreviated version, the cultural program focused on a new principle each week: purpose, unity, respect, self-determination, cooperation and believing in oneself. The girls participated in interactive lessons, discussing issues such as myths and stereotypes of African-American women, and recorded their thoughts in a journal. The program culminated in a Kwanzaa ceremony, which aimed to further bond the girls and symbolize their achievement, Jones said.

Meanwhile, a control group formed to focus on a mindfulness curriculum; at the end of the six weeks, the curriculum swapped, so that the cultural group then focused on mindfulness, and the control group received Sisters of Nia, for another six weeks.

The groups were small — half a dozen girls in each. But while the size appeared to encourage community-building in the Sisters of Nia group, Jones said, the control group never really got off the ground. Attendance was sparse, the mindfulness program appeared to hold little interest for the girls, and by the time the curriculum was scheduled to change, only two were attending at a time. The original Sisters of Nia group, on the other hand, took on the mindfulness activities and continued, on their own, to discuss the Nia principles and other ideas they had encountered.

Jones and her research team used student and teacher surveys to gauge the girls’ self-concepts and ideas about racial identity, as well as their level of engagement in school — defined by multiple measures of their attendance, effort and attitude. The researchers found that, over the six weeks of the cultural enrichment program, school engagement among participants increased, whereas it decreased among students in the control group.

Sharper differences were noted in measures of racial and ethnic identity, which were even more pronounced six weeks after the conclusion of the Sisters of Nia program. Among those participants, their degree of identification as African-American and their positive feelings about other African-Americans increased significantly over time. The girls also expressed a higher affinity for a “humanist” racial ideology, a belief that they fit in with people of all races, that their racial heritage has value in society and that their race should Ìýnot exclude them from being part of the larger community.

The fact that the girls reported these feelings long after the cultural program was over speaks to how strongly the ideas resonated with them, Jones said. There was no other direct connection to Sisters of Nia, she added, since the group leader was different for the mindfulness program, and none of the activities was related to the previous curriculum.

“They were relying solely on relationships with each other. It took time to marinate and become part of how they saw themselves,” she said. “I would want a child to have higher self-esteem when we finish a program like that, but it’s even better for it to continue to grow later on.”

Jones believes the findings point to ways to build community and identity among young teens. While this curriculum, and some of the related ideas about race, were specific to African-Americans, such ideas and lessons could be adapted for other racial and ethnic groups, as well, she said.

Even more importantly, Jones said, learning about cultural diversity and heritage, as well as dispelling stereotypes, can be applied in whole-class settings, not just designated for certain ethnic groups.

“It’s about how hearing the humanness of the other person — encouraging people to develop relationships with people who don’t look like them, makes all of us grow,” she said.

Other authors on the paper were graduate students in UW School Psychology program, Lisa Lee, Alexa Matlack and Julia Zigarelli.

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For more information, contact Jones at jjones2@uw.edu or 206-616-6370.