1. When it labels students:  

Identity is defined as "who we say we are, who others say we are and who we desire to be."  When students identify their own well-being in a public way and others begin to notice that some students are not always identifying as 'happy' or 'green' or whatever is 'socially acceptable'. This begins to shape the identity of a student. If a student has a pattern of identifying as something other than 'happy', this begins to create a perception for the student as 'the angry student' or 'the sad student' in the eyes of others. This can negatively impact relationships.

2. When it sends a negative message about their identity:

When students, who may identify their own well-being as struggling,  begin to internalize this state of well-being, feel shame and it can become a self fulfilling prophecy. "I am always struggling, this is not normal, there must be something wrong with me."

3.   When it puts the responsibility on the student to 'fix' behaviour or comply: 

When a student identifies their well-being as 'struggling', the student may then be asked a number of questions (why did they identify this way? What is causing their struggle? What do they need? What strategy can they use? etc....) Sometimes a student may just not know. It is through the relationship between student and educator that they may figure things out together, knowing that sometimes it's okay to not be okay, it's okay to not know why,  but to know that they are not alone. How are we encouraging students to recognize that they are not alone in their emotions and we will sit with them, in relationship, knowing that these emotions will not last forever?

4. When it decreases agency: 

When we make assumptions about students, when we think we know what they need, when we make decisions for them instead of with them, when we look at behaviour with a punitive mindset instead of a teaching and development mindset. This approach can quickly take away the agency all students have to tell us what they need.

5. When it looks at the surface behaviour and never considers the root cause: 

When we measure social emotional well-being without ever getting curious about the reasons. When we notice a student who is  thriving or a student who is struggling, we need to identify the factors. Why is this happening? What is the role of the environment? What is the role of the educator? What is the social climate of the classroom? When we measure social emotional well-being, it can't just stay at the surfaced understanding. How are we getting curious about what is working well and what isn't?

Brene Brown: "Human emotions and experiences are layers of biology, biography, behaviour and backstory. 

We understand how emotions and experience show up in our bodies and why (biology). We get curious about how our families and communities shape our beliefs about the connection between our feelings, thoughts and behaviour (biography).  We examine our go- to response (behaviour). We recognize the context of what we're feeling or thinking. What brought this on? (backstory).