🌱 I want to make September 1st 'just another day' - To parents feeling uneasy about the new school term: Let's support our children's hearts

I don't want it to be a sad day

Back when my children were in the thick of school non-attendance, and even now as I continue to share my thoughts like this,
during this time when summer vacation ends,
I still feel a little nervous, just as I always have.

It makes the news every year, but
the beginning of the second term is
the day when the most sad events occur.

Children extinguishing the flame of their own lives...
It is the day of the year when that happens most often.

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On August 22nd, an article themed around the 'September 1st Problem'
was published on Ritsumeikan University's web media 'shiRUto'.

Professor Takaaki Shindo of the Ritsumeikan University Graduate School of Professional Teacher Education, an expert in school mental health and educational psychology,
talks about the
'September 1st Problem'.

Children who do not attend school also feel relieved during long vacations.

This is because they can feel at ease knowing they are not the only ones taking a break during that time.

There is no need to report absences,
and teachers or friends don't bring over handouts.
It is thought that they were able to calm down by distancing themselves from troublesome human relationships.

Even though both parent and child were completely at ease in a life where they could forget the existence of 'school',
before they knew it, the new school term is looming right in front of them.

As the latter half of summer vacation approaches,
children begin to foresee themselves
still being unable to go to school even after the second term starts.

And by suddenly facing reality,
cases of mental depression increase.

Furthermore, as a recent trend,
it seems there are things that are different from the past.

In this modern age where social media is developed,
even during summer vacation, school relationships can continue through things like LINE,
and it is said that instead of their hearts being able to rest,
they may actually become exhausted.

◇◇◇

Children tend to inevitably think that
the world right in front of them is everything.

If they were to despair there, thinking 'there is nothing more I can do'...
that would be...

I absolutely do not want to face such asad reality.

How should parents support their children so that they don't have to make a sad choice?

...I keep thinking about this constantly.

The 'world of children' that parents cannot see

Professor Takaaki Shindo says the following.

Compared to adults, children
are overwhelmingly lacking in experience.
That is only natural.

I am not asking you to remember
what it felt like when you were young
and still had little experience.

However, children have their own world.
Relationships between children, relationships between children and teachers.
There is always a world and a side of the childthat
parents do not know.

I want you to remember that children are
fighting every day in a place separate from homein their own world.

Parents often end up thinking they 'know' their child,
or jumping to the conclusion that they are 'immature.'

That is a huge misunderstanding.

It is not the parent's duty to 'teach the child,'
but rather to listen carefully to the child's heart.

Please first accept
the fresh sensibilities of your children.

By making the home the ultimate'safe zone'for the child,
the child's sense of security will grow.

And even if they are hurt in the outside world,
they can gradually heal and move forward.

Even after taking a break, if they cannot go, they cannot go

'If they just tried to go, they could,'
'What will happen to their future if they get into the habit of running away?'
I know from my own experience that there are parents and teachers who think this way.

But children who don't go to school
are not saying 'I don't want to go' or 'running away',
they are already at their limit in that momentso
they cannot move.

Who is suffering, feeling like they are being blamed at both school and home?
Who is blaming them, saying they are 'not going to school and running away'?

…These are all, none other than the


children themselveswho are not attending school.They themselves think so the most.

◇◇◇

There is something I always tell people.

Children
do not live by the calendar.

The concept of dates decided by adults
is not linked to a child's mental readiness.

The first day of the second semester
is just the opening ceremony by chance,
and it is just as much 'one day' as any other.

That is precisely why I
want to make September 1st 'just another day',
not a 'special day'.

The role of a parent is surely
to make children feel
'this is a safe zone'.

If children are still feeling anxious,
we should try not to
throw them out of their 'safe zone',shouldn't we?

Once their wounds heal, children will definitely
start moving again😊


I hope this reaches those who need it…✨

#Nigiyakashitai

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Click here for the article I wrote a year ago👇

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This series is collected in a magazine.

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There are also paid articles
that go a bit deeper, including personal experiences (partially posted)👇

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Click here for the site map👇

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Please check these out too♬👉　X(Twitter), Instagram, Threads

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In our real-life activities Kozue no Tsubomi , besides our discussion groups on topics like 'school non-attendance' and 'developmental differences',
we also offer seminar videos to accompany your 'me time'!
(Click the image to link to our website)