Responding to the announcement that Government is launching a
programme to train up a ‘Youth Mental Health First Aid Champion’
in every secondary school in England, Chris Keates
General Secretary of the NASUWT, The
Teacher’s Union, said:
“Teachers and school leaders are deeply concerned about the
mental health issues being faced by the children and young people
they teach.
“The shocking statistics revealed by the NASUWT’s recent survey
of 2,000 teachers show the extent of the problems.
“Whilst the Government is right to be concerned about pupils’
mental health, today’s announcement will not address the extent
of the issues facing schools.
“Teachers and school leaders take very seriously their duty of
care to their pupils, but they cannot take the place of qualified
healthcare professionals.
“A major part of the difficulties schools face is that when
mental health issues are identified access to qualified, external
professionals and appropriate support services is at best limited
and in some cases none existent, due to the year on year
cuts these services have faced.
“Whilst training sessions may be helpful, they have the potential
to place another burden and responsibility on the shoulders of
teachers, already struggling to cope with excessive and
unsustainable workloads.
“It is also deeply disappointing that, having acknowledged the
mental health issues facing children and young people , yet again
the extensive evidence of the mental health issues faced by
teachers themselves has been ignored.
“The Government needs urgently not only to provide pupils
and teachers alike with direct and readily available access to
mental health services staffed by professionally qualified
and trained staff who are best placed to support those in need
but also to tackle the contributory factors in the schools
which are damaging mental health and wellbeing .”
An NASUWT survey into pupils’ mental health, conducted in March
2017, found that of 2,000 teachers and school leaders responding:
- · 98%
said there were pupils they come into contact with who they
believe are experiencing mental health problems
- · 91%
knew of pupils experiencing anxiety or panic attacks, 79%
depression, 64% self-harm, 49% eating disorders and 47% OCD
- · Nearly
half (46%) were not confident they would recognise the signs of a
possible mental health problem in their pupils, with less
than a quarter (24%) confident they would be able to get timely
support from expert services such as CAMHS (children and
adolescent mental health services)
An NASUWT survey of teachers, also conducted in March 2017 found
that:
- · 83%
said their job has had an adverse impact on their wellbeing
- · 59%
said it had adversely impacted on their mental health and 52%
said it has had a detrimental impact on their physical health.
