5th August 2015 8:00
By Blue Tutors
Fresh concerns have been raised about the mental health of school children, after a survey of school leaders confirmed that head teachers were more concerned with students’ mental health than any other issue. The survey of 1,180 school leaders revealed that two-thirds of head teachers polled named mental health as a top concern, followed by cyber-bullying and domestic violence. The research carried out by management support service The Key suggests that poor mental health is the single most detrimental factor undermining the success and well-being of school pupils in England. The Association of School and college leaders have joined calls for greater support for young people’s mental health, saying that it is difficult for head teachers to find appropriate support for their students.
The research suggests that the mental health difficulties experienced by English school children often stem from difficult home backgrounds. Violence and psychological abuse in the home were often key factors, as were lack of home support and understanding for conditions such as ADHD. Head teachers have raised concerns that they are not able to procure the level of support needed by their students, although the research found that many schools are employing their own counsellors to try and combat the problem. Other schools are drawing on voluntary services to try to obtain the necessary support for their students.
The Association of School and College Leaders said that schools were not able to meet the mental health needs of their students through employing extra support staff. In a statement they pointed out that schools often employ counsellors and academic support staff, but that this did not negate the need for young people’s mental health services. They raised concerns over both cuts in funding for mental health services, and cuts to schools’ budgets. The British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy estimates that between 64% and 80% of schools offer some kind of mental health support for students, but emphasised the need for increased government support for services in the community.