[newbie17]

I'm a 4th grade pull out teacher with big concerns about a set of twins I have in my class. They are socially immature and each has exactly 1 friend, outside of their twin. They don't play together much at recess, mostly sticking with the one friend. They receive mental health services, but are still lacking in social skills and they talk about death and some violence. They'll say things like "I hate myself" or "I'll just kill myself" or "everyone hates me". I report everything to their counselor as soon as it happens. The family is very involved and they have a good home life, no concerns of abuse or anything. I work hard to create a safe and loving environment for them and it's worked...they adore me and would spend all day in my classroom if I could let them. I know I've managed to build them up some this year. There has been major progress in terms of more confidence and less anxiety since last year but I just have a strong feeling one of them will do something to harm themselves at some point. I just don't know what do to. I'm a teacher, I'm not a trained mental health professional, but these kids are textbook suicide risks. Is there anything else I can do aside from continue building their confidence and reporting anything out of the ordinary to their counselor?

[GraceKrispy]

I'm sorry, I don't know how I missed responding to your post over a month ago! I hope the twins are doing well? Continuing to report to the counselor and the parents is an important step. The counselor should have a program in place to work with these kids and any others). If not, I'd want to make sure the administration is aware of your concerns (as well as the parents). Teaching them with a growth mindset attitude can help, and modeling how you handle your own frustration is really important. It sounds like you've done a lot for them already! Any update on how they are doing?

[newbie17]

Thanks for your response!! I don't know how I missed it for so long!


As of the end of the year they were doing extremely well!! Their counselor was even considering releasing them from the school's mental health program, but decided against it. She was worried about them regressing when they no longer have me as their teacher. I became "home base" for them both and they absolutely blossomed the last few months of school. They practically adopted me into their family. In the meantime, on the advice of their counselor, I've started the process of becoming a school counselor!

[GraceKrispy]

That is AWESOME news!! Congrats on starting a new leg to your career, and I'm so thrilled they were doing so well by the end of last year!!