More "Ohana and Ubuntu" Less Remediation and Retribution

The Pandemic's Impact on Student Wellbeing and the Need for Community and Connections. "Ohana and Ubuntu"

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues and disengagement among students. Top-down remediation efforts may backfire without addressing core needs for belonging, purpose and healthy relationships. Schools should focus on fostering ʻohana - a sense of family and community.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a tremendous toll on students' mental health and wellbeing. After over two years of disruption, many students are acting out, losing interest in academics, and desperately seeking attention and connection through unproductive means. While districts are responding with rigorous remediation and mandated interventions, these punitive top-down approaches often backfire. They fail to address the root causes of students' distress and disengagement: their core needs for belonging, purpose, and healthy human relationships.

if you're not INTERESTED in learning, no one can help you. When you're ready and DETERMINED to learn, no one can stop you.

During the pandemic, students experienced extreme isolation and disconnection from peers, teachers, and normal routines. Younger students missed key socialization experiences, while older students lost motivation and hope for the future. Depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide skyrocketed among youth. Now, as schools return to "normal," many students are rebelling, acting out, and sabotaging their own learning. They desperately seek attention and relationships, but often through problematic behaviors.

Districts and administrators generally respond to these challenges through rigorous remediation and discipline. Students with low test scores or incomplete work are mandated to attend remedial sessions before and after school. Students who act out face detention, suspension, and other punishments. However, research shows these authoritarian methods often backfire. They instill fear, resentment, and shame rather than inspiring learning. Students disengage more deeply, fuelling a destructive cycle.

To re-engage students, schools must address their core needs for belonging, purpose, and healthy human connection. Every student should feel they are part of a caring school community - an ʻohana in the Hawaiian tradition. Building ʻohana requires shifting from top-down control to distributed leadership where students, teachers, families and support staff all play a role in fostering wellbeing and connection. Schools might implement peer mentoring programs, restorative justice practices, student councils, community service initiatives, and regular community circles. When students feel seen, valued, and cared for, they become more motivated to learn and behave constructively.

The pandemic has presented profound challenges, but also opportunities to transform education. With compassion and courage, schools can become places where every child belongs - not through old carrot-and-stick methods, but by nurturing the human connections that give life meaning and purpose. By building ʻohana - true family and community - schools can help students thrive now and in the future.

References

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