One in three Welsh school children have a mental health issue, a Welsh Assembly committee has warned, and members are calling on the National Assembly to make it a top priority.
The Children, Young People and Education Committee’s findings came as a teaching union warned that stress is one of the main factors for pupils feeling suicidal.
In a poll of 700 school staff, the National Education Union (NEU) found that more than half said youngsters had been self-harming or thinking of self-harming.
And more than a quarter said that mental health issues have led to pupils killing themselves or attempting suicide.One Cardiff school has already seen the benefits of tackling issues around emotional and mental health.
Mary Immaculate High School opened a nurture unit six years ago. The school had been told by Estyn inspectors that it required “significant improvement” and was earmarked for closure, but today it is full, is moving up the league tables, and is being heralded as an example of how addressing the problems of the most challenging pupils can in the long-term improve the whole school.
The Assembly committee is calling for schools across Wales to be given the resources to better support young people emotionally, to embed mental and emotional health in the new curriculum, and to work to reduce the stigma around mental health.
Committee chair Lynne Neagle said: “It is estimated that one in three children in every average-sized classroom will have a mental health issue. By the age of 14, half of all mental health problems will have already begun. To stem the flow, a major step-change is needed in the priority given to supporting the emotional resilience and wellbeing of children and young people.”
As well as calling on the Welsh government to ring-fence resources to deal with the issue, it also recommended that everyone who cares, volunteers, or works with children and young people is trained in emotional and mental health awareness.
A Welsh government spokesperson said: “We welcome the committee’s acknowledgment of the improvements in the provision of mental health services in recent years and will give careful consideration to the recommendations in the report. We will issue our response to the committee’s recommendations in due course.”