So who is Viktor Frankl and what does he have to do with COVID19 and student wellbeing? He was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who rose to notoriety through the lessons he learnt and passed on through his time spent in concentration camps during the second world war.
His experiences led him to write the book ‘A Man's Search for Meaning’ which has over 16 million copies sold worldwide and is heavily referenced in leading self help and psychology literature.
Viktor Frankl’s experiences can help you, your child and your Student Wellbeing through the stresses caused by COVID19.
1 – We still have the freedom to choose our own attitude
Frankl and his fellow inmates may have had their freedom taken in every respect within the concentration camps of Auschwitz, but Frankl was guided to survival through his belief he and others could still choose how they would react to any set of circumstances, however horrific they might be.
We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts, comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Student Wellbeing at your school is very likely to be going through some unusual and challenging circumstances with the COVID19 crisis, and its likely some students will be suffering more than others. However, what is assured is that very few will be quite as brutal as what the many 1000’s of prisoners went through in the concentration camps.
Victors experiences can inspire us all that however poor or challenging our set of circumstances are, it’s still possible to decide upon what attitude we hold and carry with us and also that we stay honest to our character and the values we believe in.