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Changing attitudes? A mental health dilemma for schools

Pastoral issues Pupil wellbeing Mental health Attendance
Mental health visibility and recognition are improving, as is our willingness to talk about our wellbeing. But amid a student mental health crisis, there is more to do – and like it or not schools have a key role to play, says Al Kingsley


Here is the dilemma: societies worldwide seem to expect education systems to fix their ills but the complex way we live today is a major contributor to the current mental health crisis (Newlove-Delgado et al, 2022) among our young people. It is a catch-22.

From primary school right through to university, attendance figures are faltering, with large numbers persistently absent due to anxiety and mental health issues. Indeed, the children’s commissioner warned last year that in 2019 one in nine students were persistently absent (missing 10% of sessions) compared to almost one in four in autumn 2021 (Children’s Commissioner, 2022).

Indeed, since September 2022, more than one in four pupils (22.3%) are considered persistently absent from school (DfE, 2023).

And the contributing factors to those issues stack up as children and young people progress through the system: family problems, financial hardship, housing insecurity, peer pressure, social media, and the relentless pressure to “keep up” academically are just a few of the challenges facing them. No wonder it is resulting in increased rates of mental health distress.

However, there is a glimmer of good news. It seems that it is slowly becoming more acceptable to talk about mental health. Young people often propel this kind of social change, and a recent mental health survey in the US confirms this (NASPA & Uwill, 2023).

It found that 93% of college leaders from more than 130 American institutions agreed that since 2019, students have become more willing to talk about their mental health. This may well be the start of a significant cultural transformation that could eventually minimise or even eradicate the stigma.


Starting early

Since the pandemic and its negative effects of lockdowns on early childhood development, it seems that talking about mental health – right from the early years onwards – is now “more normal”.

It is a welcome development but there is much to do. According to the World Health Organisation, half of all mental health disorders in adulthood start by the age of 14 (WHO, 2022). However, an absence of identification, help, or intervention means many incidences are left untreated.

With the sheer number of factors that can contribute to a student's mental health, even with the best will in the world, schools cannot “fix” all these problems. What is more realistic, however, is to try to mitigate the effects and support the change.

Talking about mental health in the classroom is a crucial first step in demolishing the deep-seated view that voicing problems leaves a person open to discrimination.

Helping students to develop sharing, empathy, and listening skills through social emotional learning is the cornerstone of overturning the stigma and the idea that mental health distress is synonymous with weakness.


Healthy environments are vital

We know that children's environments shape their development. But is there such a thing as an optimum school environment for student mental health? With all the variables at play, alongside the fact that what might be a trigger for one individual could be a salve for another, the best approach for schools is a combination of actively promoting mental wellbeing and providing safe spaces to talk with teachers and peers.

By committing to supporting student mental health, schools can work towards extending awareness to the wider school community, including parents and carers. Making a stand and declaring its equivalence to physical health through attitudes and actions sets a positive example for everyone.

Today's students are taking this learning forward into higher education and, as the data shows, are opening up more. It is simply a fact that we are not physically healthy 100% of the time, so likewise there should be no judgement around mental health.


More investment, greater wellbeing

Appointments with mental health professionals are notoriously difficult to access on the NHS, and private consultations are costly and out of reach for many students.

Yet nobody can dispute that tackling problems sooner means fewer issues later on, with better wellbeing translating into greater student engagement and improved outcomes – results and mental health-wise. However, the funding for mental health support for young people is the stumbling block, which means a lack of help right when students need it.

Improving access to appointments is essential but recalibrating mental health services and forging alignments with the education sector that are fit for today's needs will take a great deal of negotiation, time, and money.

The roll-out of Mental Health Support Teams is a great step in the right direction, but these teams currently only reach around a third of students.

In the interim, digital innovators are stepping in with different approaches – with accessible self-help apps, specifically targeted institution-wide solutions and more – but they are still no substitute for professional in-person help.

Working towards a mentally healthy society

The topic of young people's mental health in 2023 throws up some big questions. First, is it that more young people are presenting with mental health challenges or are we simply getting better at identifying them?

Stigma and discrimination have meant that mental health issues have been hidden and tracking the incidence rate has been almost impossible. If, as the data shows, young people are now moving towards a culture of openness, then it is only now that we are getting an idea of the full extent of the problem.

Second, if more young people are experiencing mental health challenges, then we as a society need to examine the reasons why.

Good mental health comes from a well-balanced, supportive, and benevolent environment – deprivation, poverty and disadvantage are not part of that picture. We all need to contemplate the society we want: is it one where everyone can have a place or where “weakness” means being cast aside?

Changing society's attitude to mental health is not impossible; it is already happening. Let's grasp the baton, run with it and drive progression and understanding for everyone in the future. Let’s play our part.

  • Al Kingsley is chair of a MAT and an alternative provision academy, as well as his region’s Governors' Leadership Group and regional SEND Board. He is the CEO of the NetSupport Group of companies. Al is author of My Secret #EdTech Diary and My School #Governance Handbook and co-author of A Guide to Creating a Digital Strategy in Education. Visit https://alkingsley.com/books/. For his previous articles in SecEd, visit http://bit.ly/seced-kingsley


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