VIEWS & OPINION


Our responsibilities to children’s mental health


Comment by KEIR MCDONALD MBE, EduCare


Can discussing current affairs with children be beneficial to their education?


Comment by


DR JACQUELINE HARDING, leading child development expert and Director at Tomorrows Child


As the political turmoil of the UK’s general election unfolds before us, it becomes easier than ever to get caught up and distracted from the bigger picture. Regardless of who voted for who, our government has a responsibility to fulfil when it comes to the pastoral care of the youngest parts of society. Which is why EduCare is honoured to work alongside leading UK charity YoungMinds, in the development of its new Mental Health and Wellbeing training course.


Recent studies show that, on average, at least three children in every school class have a mental health condition, while the number of children and young people arriving in A&E with a psychiatric condition has more than doubled since 2011. Commitment from every politician is required to help improve services and promote healthy mental wellbeing.


Directing resources


Consider that one in three mental health problems in adulthood arise from childhood trauma. Yet, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) receive a disproportionate amount of resources. There is a feeling that, in recent years, the majority of mental health funding has been placed on helping to improve mental health problems, as opposed to preventing them from developing.


Lately, the government’s approach to their mental wellbeing responsibilities seems to have focused on the visible problems, while those who do not seek help remain without support. Through the improvement of infrastructure and better awareness for issues faced by children and young people, we can hope to bring the balance back.


Schools and their duty of care


Too often, the pressure is placed on schools to support students when other services are unavailable. Schools do a fantastic job in their pastoral care, but current funding for state education has shackled them, diminishing their ability to protect both staff and students. 90% of school leaders have said that they’ve experienced an increase in students suffering from anxiety or stress. For the improvement of children and young people’s mental and emotional wellbeing, priority must be given to the way it is legislated within schools and involved in the Ofsted inspection framework.


Inpatient care


Effort must also be made to make changes to the inpatient care at mental health hospitals. Surveys by YoungMinds found that only 43% of parents believe their child’s mental health to have improved while in hospital. While many parents and young people felt that treatments and medication choices were out of their control and that there weren’t appropriate systems in place to challenge these decisions.


YoungMinds is calling for a comprehensive charter of patients’ legal rights to be produced to increase confidence and trust in the system. They are also campaigning for the complete cessation of harmful practices. Both physical and chemical restraints, as well as solitary confinement, are still widely used as treatments. These techniques must be stopped, as they reinforce a deep culture of victim blaming and can only be seen as punishments, rather than treatment.


Our new government has a great responsibility on its shoulders to prevent the deterioration and misuse of children and young people’s mental health services. YoungMinds has stated that there is a “mental health crisis”, refusing to sit by as much of the youth of Great Britain is forced to grow up with uncertainty and anxiety holding them back.


July/August 2017


With media platforms regularly filled with complex news from across the world, it is understandably challenging for teachers and parents to know what information to share with children, in what format and setting – at school and home. Indeed, it is often questioned whether exposure to current affairs will harm or benefit children and their understanding of the world around them.


In a bid to determine the place of real world events in a child’s education, Tomorrows Child, in partnership with The Week Junior magazine, recently undertook research into the consequences of encouraging critical thinking through news artefacts. Using new data from over 1000 children aged 8-15, teachers and parents, our research strongly indicates that there are significant benefits to explaining real world news in a developmentally appropriate way by stimulating critical thinking and building resilience in children both at home and school.


In the study, children from across the UK almost unanimously expressed their belief that learning about real world events or news sometimes or always increases their motivation to learn. The young people surveyed wanted to be given the tools to help them make sense of the world and showed that they thrive on that knowledge. This view was supported by both parents and teachers, who identified a strong link between enhancing creativity in the curriculum and developing emotional resilience. Many participants found this correlations to be so valuable that many teachers lamented the lack of time to be able to bring current affairs and real world events into the classroom.


The results of our survey demonstrate that when real world news is delivered and explained in a developmentally appropriate way, bringing current affairs into both the home and the learning environment can have significant benefits for child development. Beyond supporting “healthy minds”, engaging in discussion and giving children the tools to understand real world events has the potential to support the development of critical thinking skills, deepen academic learning and enhance cognitive growth. These skills support the building of resilience which has recognised benefits for children navigating the tumultuous transition from primary to secondary school, as well as for a child’s success later in life. Significantly, the study raises questions about the way in which schools might offer a deeper and more tangible link between real world news and classroom lessons as a way of enabling children to engage in critical thinking. Building on the findings and given time constraints on parents and teacher alike, I believe that closer co- ordination between home and school will be essential to encourage children's natural curiosity and help them make sense of the world. We know that we can stimulate a child’s curiosity and their desire to learn when real world news is delivered and explained in a way that is developmentally appropriate, with sensitivity that will not engender confusion.


There is an opportunity here for teachers and parents, with the right support, to build on childhood interest and help young people develop the skills they need to become the curious, respectful critical thinkers of tomorrow.


To download a copy of the research report, please visit: http://theweekjunior.co.uk/schools-research


www.education-today.co.uk 15


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