In a week, as the school bell will ring and thousands of children will enter their classrooms, for many, their minds will remain in the shelters. As the school year begins, everything may appear to return to “normal”: classes, exams, homework, and the expectation to succeed. But behind this façade of routine lies a deeper story: a child who only recently ran between bomb shelters, looked after younger siblings, and saw their parents exhausted and worried, now steps into a new year without having had the chance to process what they went through.
Parents and educators alike are carrying their own emotional burdens. When the emotional reservoir of adults is full, it becomes harder to provide children with the support they so urgently need. The result: Children arrive at school with backpacks full of not only notebooks but also fear, anxiety, and a sense of insecurity.
Since children spend most of their day in school, educators are the ones most exposed to their behaviors and needs. This creates a unique opportunity not only to nurture knowledge and skills but also to strengthen students’ emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and social development.
In this sense, kindergartens and schools play a crucial role in the early identification of emotional and behavioral difficulties – before they escalate into anxiety attacks – and in offering meaningful emotional support that can prevent further deterioration and academic harm.
Post-October 7 emotional distress
Since October 2023, research in Israel has pointed to a sharp increase in emotional distress following the Israel-Hamas War: Maccabi Healthcare Services reported a 112% surge in PTSD diagnoses across the population, while the ‘Pulse Check’ study found that teenagers were experiencing more post-traumatic symptoms, a decline in their sense of belonging at school, and that more than 52% did not seek help despite clear distress.
The bigger picture reveals an ongoing reality of anxiety, stress, and instability – particularly among adolescents, but also across Israeli society. Beyond this, however, lies a dual challenge: Students often struggle to find the courage to ask for help, and many are not even fully aware of or able to articulate the difficulties they face. Even when they do take that brave step and reach out, teachers – despite their best intentions – are not always equipped with the tools they need to respond effectively.
By the time students manage to overcome the barrier of fear, they may already have been left without the support they need, while the system as a whole continues to wrestle with the growing emotional crisis. Effective teaching is not possible without emotional well-being, and there is no meaningful learning without a sense of safety.
When a child’s backpack carries not only books and notebooks but also fear, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, and insecurity, the weight they bear becomes overwhelming. Daily coping skills are critical to building emotional resilience, starting with the early identification of challenges and the introduction of self-regulation tools. These tools can strengthen students’ sense of safety and stability – not only during times of emergency but also in everyday life.
Prioritizing emotional well-being alongside academic achievement
The Education Ministry has taken important steps to promote emotional health in schools, offering programs and professional support as part of the educational framework. Yet the complex reality students face today demands a system that prioritizes emotional well-being, safety, and resilience alongside academic achievement.
Teachers’ toolkits must include resources for addressing a wide range of challenges – both to support students and to help educators themselves manage the heavy load of tasks, limited time, and lack of in-depth expertise in identifying signs of anxiety and trauma.
In addition, schools should have continuous monitoring systems and provide individualized responses, especially during times of crisis. This requires expanding training programs, allocating dedicated resources, and integrating certified professionals to ensure effective and sustainable support.
It is essential that the system itself be balanced and regulated even before students arrive, so that schools can offer them hope and renewal. In this way, the classroom can become a safe and stabilizing space from which a stronger, more resilient generation can emerge, better prepared to face future challenges.
It is vital to help children connect with their internal resources rather than focus solely on their struggles, while also training educators to identify distress and support both their own and their students’ emotional regulation within the school framework.
Anxiety and stress are like a snowball; if not stopped, they grow larger, affecting teachers and students alike, and leading to significant harm to both well-being and learning capacity. Early detection and professional support are therefore essential. Emotional well-being must be treated as no less important than academic achievement, for every child and every teacher. Without strong emotional resilience, meaningful learning cannot truly flourish.
The writer is deputy CEO of EmotionAid and former director of the Educational Center at Schneider Children’s Medical Center.