Religious Education, Psychosocial Interventions Must Go Hand in Hand to Address Children’s Mental Health – Expert

KUALA LUMPUR: Values-based and religious education must go hand in hand with psychosocial support to ensure that children’s mental well-being continues to be safeguarded.

Child psychologist and SEGi University Vice-Chancellor Prof Datin Dr Mariani Md Nor said religious education plays a role in developing self-discipline and guiding children through life’s challenges, while emotional support from families and school-based interventions are essential in helping them manage stress.

According to her, academic pressure and high expectations from parents and teachers can affect children’s emotional well-being, particularly when they are not given sufficient time to rest, play and socialise.

“We must remember that play is an essential part of childhood. At the same time, although children need to go through the learning process at childcare centres, kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools, we must recognise that they also need time to rest.

“If they are not given the flexibility to rest and socialise, it will certainly cause stress,” she told Astro AWANI on Sunday.

Elaborating, Mariani said instilling religious and spiritual values can help children develop discipline and coping skills, while encouraging them to seek guidance from parents and teachers when facing difficulties.

However, she emphasised that prolonged emotional stress without social and psychological support could adversely affect mental health, including leading to depression.

Therefore, she said, a balance between learning, recreation, rest and religious practices must be consistently maintained at home and in schools.

“Psychosocial interventions need to take place in schools because counsellors are available there. However, at home, parents need to understand what their children have experienced and what strategies should be implemented to ensure their mental, physical and emotional well-being is restored,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mariani also called for reforms to the national education system to ensure that mental health and psychosocial support receive greater attention.

She believes that guidance and counselling services in schools should be strengthened, including ensuring an appropriate ratio of counsellors to students and the continuous implementation of interventions.

She said counselling sessions should not be conducted as one-off activities but should instead be carried out consistently to support students experiencing emotional distress.

Mariani also shared her observations while conducting research on guidelines for addressing bullying and sexual harassment in schools, including interviews with school counsellors.

According to her, there have been instances where some guidance and counselling teachers attempted to conceal the actual situation, even though transparency is crucial to preventing students’ problems from persisting.

“Sometimes, there are guidance and counselling teachers who try to cover up the actual situation. This must not happen.

“Whatever happens, we must remain transparent to prevent the situation in our country from reaching an alarming level, because these children are our future generation.

“Psychosocial interventions must be further strengthened and intensified, and guidance and counselling teachers must be individuals who are genuinely committed to fulfilling their responsibilities to the best of their abilities,” she stressed.

Her remarks followed a statement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who emphasised the need to strengthen Islamic-based education from an early age to address moral decline and social problems, while also giving serious attention to children’s mental health issues.

Anwar also stressed that educational progress should not be measured solely by academic excellence but must also take into account character development, manners, moral values and human values.

AWANI