Theresa May promises mental health checks for all pupils?...

[CheekySnippet]

Daily Fail article here

So teachers are now to assess every pupil from 4yrs onwards for their mental health. I wonder that this doesn't already come under safeguarding? Not being in the teaching profession myself, I wonder about the extra workload this will produce? And the ethics of asking teachers to assess mental health. I had severe problems due to abuse whilst at school but there's no way I would've confessed I wasn't happy, so this type of project wouldn't have reached me. After all that though, what will happen to those identified as needing mental help? Services are already stretched to the absolute limit. How many times have you read on here that people can't get Camhs appointments? It's all very well identifying children in need & trying to nip problems in the bud early on but where are the funds for the increase in services that will inevitably be needed? Aibu?

Teachers are not qualified to do this effectively. It's adding another job to their ridiculous workload whilst avoiding spending money on effective services.

I think we should be treating the causes not expecting already over stretched teaching staff to do another job for which they're not qualified.

When will there be time to teach?

Nice idea, but teachers are not qualified to make these assessments. And as OP has pointed out, there is no funding available for follow up even if they could.

It is another headline that will amount to nothing.

As a teacher I think this is shocking. I seriously hope it doesn't happen.

1. Teachers aren't qualified to do these checks.
2. Even if they were, there's no time to do these checks in any proper sense.
3. Even if 1&2 didn't apply, there's no service capacity to follow up if a child needs help. No money, no people, no access.

I say this as a teacher.

Well I think it's a good idea. If someone had actually asked me how I felt when I was at school I'd have been able to communicate that life was crap & that I was near breaking point. As it was they didn't, I didn't feel able to approach anyone (undiagnosed autism) and so I struggled on. Eating disorder, depression and crap A-Level results followed.
It's not perfect but it's a start.