B.C. kindergartners are more often struggling with emotional vulnerability, according to a report released Wednesday by University of B.C. researchers.
Since 2001, the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) at UBC has collected and analyzed data from more than 245,000 kindergartners, gathered through questionnaires each February.
For their Early-Years Development Instrument (EDI) B.C. 2016 provincial report, HELP researchers used this data to measure and compare students’ vulnerability on five scales over time, including physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development and communication skills and general knowledge.
Using data collected from 2013 to 2016, they found 32.2. per cent of B.C. kindergarten students are considered vulnerable on one or more of these scales, up from 29.9 per cent in 2004 to 2007.
Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl, director of HELP, said few places in the world collect such detailed information, which is used by organizations such as school districts, libraries and government to guide policy and program decisions.
But the report turned up some concerning trends.
The data showed that vulnerability was dependent on socioeconomic status but varied both between and within communities. An interactive map shows that Vancouver Island West, Gold Trail and Prince Rupert all had vulnerability rates 50 per cent or higher, while Nisga’a, Arrow Lakes and Revelstoke were all lower than 17 per cent.
Language and cognitive development improved over time — 9.4 per cent of students are considered vulnerable, down from 11.3 per cent in 2004 to 2007. Communication has held steady at 14.2 per cent.
But vulnerability increased on the three other measures over the same period, most noticeably emotional maturity, which affects the highest number of children at 16.1 per cent, up from 11.9 in 2004 to 2007.
According to the report, emotionally-vulnerable children have problems regulating their emotions and may struggle to manage aggressive behaviour and be disobedient, inattentive and impulsive. They might not naturally help peers or adults.
Schonert-Reichl said it’s not easy to “tease apart” casual relationships, but questioned whether societal changes in B.C. might be impacting such trends, such as a lack of supports for parents as they struggle with B.C.’s high costs of housing and living.
“Are parents coming home more stressed and therefore the kids are picking up the stress more?” she said.
It’s also possible the trends are influenced by an increased reliance on technology and societal pressure that forces parents to spend more time on their smartphones, she said.
Schonert-Reichl said HELP will compare its data to other data sets and see whether it can predict how well, over time, children are able to socialize and perform academically after leaving kindergarten.
She said B.C.’s redesigned Kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum, introduced this year, has new components focusing on social and personal competency, which gives her hope for positive change.
“On the one hand, though we’re seeing one in three children who are vulnerable … looking forward … the school will be able to help develop those skills in which they’re coming in with deficits,” she said.
Jeff Calbick, vice-president of community impact and investment for the United Way of the Lower Mainland, said his organization has been a partner of HELP for more than 12 years and uses HELP’s data to make evidence-based decisions on programming.
“It informs both where we make our community investments — so right down to some neighbourhood examples — and the kind of services and support that we want to get behind,” Calbick said.
UWLM invests $5 million annually into programs for children and families, including Avenues of Change, which Calbick said is creating positive change in specific neighbourhoods where children are struggling.
Calbick said affordability in B.C. is an ongoing concern for United Way, particularly at a time when one-in-five children in the province lives in poverty, according to a report by the B.C. Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition.
“Families are feeling stressed. There’s an increased level of anxiety, worry, and I think that’s showing up in our children,” he said.
He said HELP’s new report ” hammers home” that such conditions have become chronic.
“Now more than ever, we need to figure out not only service solutions but we have to engage parents in a different way. We also have to look at some different policy and systems-level change in order to make things better for kids.”
