Question 5 – Zone 10 Response
Contents
The Question in brief
Response from:
– Wesley Campbell
The Question in Brief
What do you believe an OCDSB trustee’s role is re: promoting well-being in Ottawa public schools? (See full text of Question 5.)
Wesley Campbell
So this has been a large portion of what I have been saying, I want to create a culture of graduates who have the mental strength to cope with failure, and setbacks. There is a mantra out there that by the time you are in your late 20’s early 30’s you should be at a certain spot in life. Sadly that is no longer a reality, a large portion have degrees and don’t work in their field or make much less money than they thought they would but are also saddled with massive student debt. It is creating an issue that I wish to prevent. That starts with giving young children better coping mechanisms especially when they are not seeing the success they want to. Mental health is absolutely linked to physical health, so getting our young kids playing longer in the day creating a culture of physical activity is very important to me. I also want more of a push on proper nutrition. That means more than just 4 food groups…it means meal choices and portion sizes, how healthier foods generally fill you better than processed foods or sugary foods. Mental health counselling should be part of the training we are giving our teachers…we need to give them the tools, and they need to be willing to use them.
We are not doing enough in this area and we need to start doing better.