MIND MOVES:Teachers uniquely placed to detect stress
THERE IS a view that the Department of Education and Skills has been slow to update its approach to supporting the mental health of people throughout the second-level education system. This view has sometimes rubbed off on teachers whose role in supporting the mental health of the majority of our nation’s young people tends to be highly undervalued as a result.
I have been at two national conferences recently that addressed this issue. What I have heard has given me a fresh perspective on the value and the challenges in supporting young people’s mental health in second-level educational settings.
The role of secondary schools in promoting positive mental health was addressed in a public forum hosted by President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin in June.
“Our young people,” the President said, “want for themselves what we want for them – healthy, happy, well-balanced lives, faith in themselves, hope in the future and a determination to make their best mark on that future. We know that good, early intervention could prevent their problems from becoming unwelcome lifelong companions.”
What a beautiful way to talk about the emotional conundrums we spend our life trying to shake off.
The forum spoke about the importance of giving young people a solid foundation in the emotional, social, psychological and sexual aspects of growing up. Programmes such as SPHE and RSE, when presented by trained, confident teachers who are comfortable with the content, were acknowledged to have a powerful impact on the development of a young person.
The forum audience also expressed concern about the “inconsistent way” in which the SPHE and the RSE are currently being implemented in the junior and senior cycle.
Teenagers all need to learn how to pay attention to the “inner curriculum” of their personal life. This deserves attention, not simply “as well as” the academic curriculum they grapple with very day, but “in order that” they can face the challenges of an incredibly stressful academic curriculum.
There are also numerous informal ways that teachers are uniquely placed to pick up on the distress of their students and respond to them. These opportunities may arise in unexpected places such as on the sport field, rehearsing a school play or on a field trip.
Some schools have “care committees” which meet weekly to discuss at-risk students and to support teachers who are personally supporting that student. There may be other options available to access appropriate support for that student via the school guidance counsellor, or the National Educational Psychological Service, but many teachers find themselves in situations with little back-up.
My eyes were opened recently, attending both this Áras forum and also the annual conference of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals, which was held in Killarney last week.
It became clear to me that right across this State, teachers are supporting young people, many of whom are in poor shape. Those teachers were very happy to go the extra mile for these students, but their goodwill often turned to frustration and helplessness when they reached beyond the walls of their school and tried to access specialist community mental health services.
This breakage in the link between schools and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services pose challenges for teachers and at-risk students. Teachers may be reluctant to get involved with a troubled student, because they are fearful, as one principal put it, of “opening a can of worms”.
The point of greatest frustration for teachers was finding themselves unable to access their local mental health service, knowing full well that they and their school lacked the necessary resources to keep that young person safe.
Maybe we all need to recognise how much is being done in schools to promote positive mental health, and to acknowledge where the statutory system can often let them down at those very times when they most need back-up.
Tony Bates is founding director of Headstrong – the National Centre for Youth Mental Health (headstrong.ie)