5 Facts About Belonging as Kids Go Back to School

Key points

Belonging is a basic human need—and belonging uncertainty is acute during back-to-school season.

Parents, schools, and teachers can help students feel they are seen, have potential, and are not alone.

Parents also need support—and, when they get it, kids do better too.

Back-to-school season is an exciting time for students. But it’s also a time for worry. New classrooms, teachers, and sometimes entirely new schools can trigger what psychologists call belonging uncertainty : the nagging question, Do I fit in here?

(And sometimes, parents and teachers may be wondering the same things—for students and themselves.)

The concept of belonging uncertainty was pioneered by psychologists Gregory Walton and Geoffrey Cohen. They described it as a state when people are “more uncer