The mental health and well being of schoolchildren should be a top priority for schools from primary age upwards, according to a new report by the University of Aberdeen.
A team of researchers at the University’s School of Education, in conjunction with NHS Grampian and its Choose Life partners, organised a series of student-led seminars, entitled Open Space, with the aim of exploring a range of issues on mental health and well being for young people.
The project brought together a group of 22 S3 pupils from Aberdeen’s Hazlehead and St Machar Academies.
As part of the first stage of the research project, which began in May 2005, the pupils attended a Young People’s Day where they were given the chance to speak about the issues affecting their lives as young teenagers, including bullying, exam pressures, peer pressure, relationships and health.
This event was followed by a series of discussion forums, which ran until November last year, linking up the young people with teachers and other education, health and social service workers.
Norma Hart, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, who led the project, said the research revealed a number of significant issues in relation to the role of schools and mental health. She said: “One of the main findings of the research revealed that mental health and well being should be a priority at all levels of the school system.
“The school has an important role to play as many of the issues the youngsters highlighted were frequently in a school context. Early intervention is vital in addressing children’s mental health from an early age.”
Ms Hart said the project had proved to be constructive for both the young people and the adult professionals involved.
She said: “This kind of project has never been done in Aberdeen before and it soon became clear to us that there was a considerable energy and enthusiasm surrounding our discussions of mental health and well being.
“Bringing people together enabled individuals to deal with complex issues and the informality and openness of our sessions led to valuable discussions.”
The rate of mental disorder among 892 young Scots surveyed by The Office of National Statistics was 8.5%. Boys were more likely to have a mental disorder than girls – 11% compared to 8%. Children of lone parents were about twice as likely to have a mental health problem than those living with married or co-habiting couples.
“When we asked the young people to focus on feelings, the range of both positive and negative feelings surrounding, for example, family relationships and peer pressure, was staggering,” said Ms Hart.
“We were reminded of the huge range of emotions that characterise the teenage years.”
During the discussion forums, the professionals allowed the young people to have free reign with the topics up for discussion, which proved to be a real eye-opener for the adults.
Ms Hart explained: “Some of the adults marvelled at the maturity and confidence of the young participants in articulating their views – the young people wanted to be heard and the adults were eager to listen.
”One professional remarked that she had been “blown away” by how articulate the young people had been – then she realised that this response was actually patronising. She revised her view to recognise that ‘young people are so able, but we still treat them as children.’”
At the close of the six-month Open Space project, the research team compiled their conclusions, which highlighted the need for more opportunities to discuss the vital role of schools in relation to mental health and the need for this to be applied from primary level upwards.
Ms Hart added: “The Open Space project highlighted for us the need to “make a fuss” so that the outcome of the project is not just a report but a stimulus for action, change and an opportunity to work with the ideas to ensure the development of a workable strategy for a mental health schools programme for future generations of schoolchildren.”
The full report, Making a Fuss: Recognising and Responding to the Mental Health Needs of Young People, is available by contacting Karen McArdle at k.a.mcardle@abdn.ac.uk.