Supporting Children’s Mental Health at Home: Practical Steps for Parents

America’s child mental health crisis often centers around clinics and classrooms. However, significant opportunities for support occur at home. The 2024 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report reveals that 39.7% of U.S. high school students experienced persistent sadness or hopelessness over the past year. Access to professional care is crucial, but the focus shifts to what happens between appointments and during everyday moments. Social and emotional development continues outside of school. The CDC highlights the importance of school connectedness and having supportive adults at home for better mental health outcomes.

The Role of Parents

Parents face substantial pressures. The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2024 advisory notes that 48% of parents feel overwhelmed by stress most days, compared to 26% of other adults. Managing financial, work, childcare, and household demands can make additional responsibilities for children’s emotional health overwhelming. Instead, parents need practical ways to integrate social and emotional learning into their daily routines.

Schools have a significant role in this process. The CDC’s mental health action guide emphasizes supportive environments, connections with caring adults, and access to services. Social and emotional learning is familiar in education, but children only spend part of their day at school. The question arises: can these skills be strengthened at home?

Practical Steps for Emotional Education

My interest in this topic grew from my work with Dr. Stephanie Jones, focused on prevention and children’s social and emotional development. Understanding the parent’s role in teaching these skills outside structured settings is crucial. This has shaped my approach as co-founder and CEO of moxie FOR KIDS.

Dr. Jones’ Harvard EASEL Lab’s Kernels of Practice offer brief activities to develop social and emotional skills. These simple activities, like breathing exercises, can be adapted for parents and children to practice at home. Everyday moments, such as sibling conflicts or a child’s frustration, can become opportunities to teach emotional awareness and communication skills.

Research on Social and Emotional Learning

Research supports this approach. A meta-analysis in Child Development reviewed 82 school-based interventions with 97,406 students, showing improved social and emotional skills, attitudes, and well-being. While the research focused on school interventions, it raises a question: what happens when parents reinforce these skills through daily interactions at home?

Testing is needed to answer this question. Families must be involved, and tools should fit real household routines. Parents need practical, simple strategies for use in daily conversations and conflicts—not a complex program to manage.

The Importance of Professional Care

Professional mental health care is essential for those in need. Teaching social and emotional skills at home does not replace clinical intervention. Instead, it provides a preventative approach. Children learn about emotions, conflict resolution, and communication every day. Parents should not become therapists but should have tools to engage confidently in their children’s emotional growth.

For the U.S. to address children’s mental health effectively, efforts must extend beyond clinics or classrooms. Supporting parents in transforming routine moments into opportunities for skill practice is key for lasting emotional development.

James Wall is the co-founder and CEO of moxie FOR KIDS, focusing on practical ways for parents and young children to engage with social and emotional learning at home. The views expressed in this article are his own.