Schools should be more proactive regarding children's mental health

[Foreverautumnagain]

I'm aware of so many school age kids suffering knife attacks, bullying and extreme stress at school that result in sometimes fatal reactions as these kids don't know where to turn for support and cannot stop the harmful behaviour.

My child showed me a video of a 14 year old girl getting severely beaten at school by 4 other girls while a teacher walked past and totally ignored it! There are many reports of similar attacks and some as harmful if less extreme - I'm sure most parents could give examples!

There are far more youngsters self-harming, avoiding school, turning to drugs and alcohol and as parents we're being told the schools can't do anything!! We send our kids into situations which must feel like torture to them and we tell them they have to go there!! It's beyond belief how ruthless school life is these days - surely schools have a massive responsibility to make the environment safe, to identify and help those who are self-harming or expressing s**cidal thoughts??

I appreciated funds are limited but Government should now step up and accept there's a problem. They need to fund appropriate support and, if necessary, security staff at schools.

You know very little about schools if you are not aware what a massive priority is given to mental health and safeguarding.

First reply nails it

Maybe parents should actually parent or the government come up with a coherent plan for tackling these issues, rather than place another burden on TEACHERS whose job is it to TEACH.
Ridiculous post. Absolutely no clue.

Exactly what I was going to say.

In fact I'm surprised teachers have any time left to teach, what with all the extra responsibilities placed upon them.

Also OP, if you're going to mention suicide, why would you put ** in the word? It's not like no-one knows what you're saying?

This doesn't all fall to schools. They can't be everything.

I have been in many schools and absolutely don’t recognise this. Schools work really hard on safeguarding and mental health.

Parents need to parent as well.
Schools would have such easier time if parents co-operated with them rather than battling everything.

There are far more youngsters self-harming, avoiding school, turning to drugs and alcohol and as parents we're being told the schools can't do anything!!

Also, unless the kids are doing those things on the premises, what do you expect school staff to do?

And why wouldn't it be the parents responsibility?

Schools do a huge amount of MH guidance, it's at the forefront of most policies.

The school I work at (admittedly a primary) does a huge amount of work in mental health support and safeguarding. It's definitely a pressing issue but I think what you describe (a teacher ignoring an active assault) is far from the norm.

Schools have been doing doing all this for years. I think they should be doing less of it and more actual teaching.

So now teachers need to step in because parents are failing? Where does it end. I have so much sympathy for teachers.

Ragebait.

School are not a replacement for parenting.

All schools have a focus on safeguarding and mental health.

Schools focus on mental health yes but do little to address the school-based causes of poor mental health. Where pupils are free to attack others without any meaningful consequences pupils find the atmosphere in school unbearably tense. If you have someone in your class given to throwing chairs at the drop of a hat it’s going to be immensely stressful. And yet schools freely let children prone to such outbursts sit in mainstream classes.

Huge emphasis on mental health in schools now
especially since Covid
but surely schools should be there to educate -

why are kids so vulnerable to mental illness now ??

read the anxious generation.

screen addiction is a huge factor in kids mental distress

parents screen addiction getting in the way of active parenting

that starts at home / parenting but many do not want to hear / acknowledge this and say what are schools / Cahms going to do about my child’s poor mental health ???
whilst at home :
hours on screens
poor sleep
rubbish nutrition
little exercise
Not socialising in real life / mainly on screens
reels / shorts causing poor concentration/ lack of focus
i could go on …

Wouldn't it be easier for the school to just prevent that child from returning? Of course! Saves them loads of work! So if it is that easy why don't schools just expel them... oh wait... it isn't that easy.

You obviously don't know the system.

Parents need to parent. Schools should be teaching... but instead all of the role of the parent is placed on schools.

I was accused of walking past a fight once. I was a pregnant, high risk, have health issues with my spine that means I can't get involved like i once did. I sought help immediately and other staff (that are properly trained, might I add) stopped it. I still felt guilty. During my first pregnancy I did intervene and was badly injured. But you just judge that poor teacher on a video!

Schools are a reflection of the society they serve.

Was this video taken at your child’s school by your child or someone she knows, or did she find it on TikTok?

My granddaughter has recently started in year 1. Her school has been addressing mental health ever since she started reception. They have mini mindfulness sessions and it's clear from the things that she says to me that discussions happen about feelings within their curriculum.

DH and I are both teachers and support for mental health in schools is completely inadequate, IME. We have a DC who has been completely failed by the lack of support for her mental health. I'm sure it varies by school but in my experience, as parent and teacher, a student is far more likely to get support if they cause disruption. The ones who internalise their fears and are exceptionally quiet will be ignored. I begged for help from the first signs of difficulty and got nothing. Three years down the line we have an EHCP and some teaching provided outside of school but her academic chances have been completely ruined.

Don't even get me started on the uselessness of CAMHS.

In my school we have the following

A school counsellor.
A play therapist who comes in weekly.
2 staff trained in Art therapy.
Several trained Mental Health First Aiders.
All staff receive training in trauma and attachment.
All staff have had specific training around self harm.
Group interventions for self esteem, social skills, managing worries etc.
A sensory room.
Time out cards that kids can use if feeling overwhelmed in the classroom.
A support group for parents of kids with SEND (including Mental Health issues).
A nurture group first thing every morning for children that struggle with the transition into school.
A daily break and lunchtime club (run by staff trained in MHFA) specifically for kids who feel anxious or overwhelmed being on the playground.
Parent workshops around mental health, wellbeing and safeguarding topics.
A PSHE curriculum that places a huge emphasis on kindness, respect for others and taking care of our Mental Health.

I'd love to know what else my staff and I should be doing to proactively support children's mental health. I'm open to suggestions as long as they don't cost money (we have none) or time because frankly we spend so much time sorting out housing, benefits, feeding and clothing children, teaching basic self-care skills and dealing with a myriad of social issues that are nothing to do with education but we can't persuade any other agency to help with, that there's barely enough time left to educate children.

To respond to some of the points raised;
Clearly very different support is available in different schools. It sounds like a lottery what your kids get.
The video was taken in one of the schools in our area not on Tik tok. It was a male teacher strutting past.
Of course parents should parent. Maybe these attacks and stressful school environments would reduce if kids all showed respect or an interest in learning. Maybe then some kids wouldn't spend every hour they are there waiting to be spat at or goaded or stabbed with a compass or punched in the groin. How does that comment help the victims? Many are outgoing kids with lots of interests and do not spend every evening on computer games. They're often the high performers.
Nowhere did I suggest that teachers took on the extra load. It should involve specialists in mental health issues and better security arangements to make the environment safer.
Most teachers I've spoken to have said the situation is worse since COVID and isn't improving. Many are leaving the profession.

Definitely not your job to support in this as her parent?
Priimary teacher here, it is the forefront of everything we do and everything we worry we aren't doing enough of.

I don’t think anyone can disagree that schools need to improve. Send a letter to your MP. Don’t blame the victim for the dire situation they have found themselves after cuts since 2008.