Children's mental health? Whatever!

Teacher: “We’re just here for your mental health”

Student: (Groan) “Whatever”

I heard these words spoken by a teenager recently as they told their friends about the current state of online school learning. In their story which described how more and more of their friends had stopped logging on each day to ‘home school’, they recounted how the teacher had responded to this with “We’re just here for your mental health”. The teenager in question’s personal response to this was “Whatever”. It was spoken in defeat rather than attack, accompanied with a groan and a sigh. It seemed to me that they felt completely disconnected to the teacher’s omission about mental health. It seemed that the teacher’s aim to provide a platform of positive mental health fell on deaf ears. So, my question today is why? What do young people really think about the notion of mental health right now?

It seems fitting to me that I consider this question, as this week is children’s mental health week. Social media is packed with information and declarations about the state of children’s mental health with companies and individuals recognising this is a devastation right now, particularly as children struggle with lockdown number 3. But despite all these good intentions, what impact does this actually have on the day-to-day realities of our young people? What do they think? Based on the exchange outlined above, my intuition says - very little. The problem is ‘mental health’ is bandied around so much now it has almost no meaning. It is more of an abstract idea to young people rather than a day-to-day reality, witnessed through applied behaviour. In short, it’s something the adults say a lot but means very little to them.

Now, don’t get me wrong, a strong awareness of mental health is definitely beneficial. Just a few decades ago, the notion of mental health came with a trunk load of stigma. The history of mental health and our understanding of developing healthy mindsets has advanced dramatically with undeniably positive effects. However, there is clearly still so much to learn. Of all the brilliant scientific advancements in medicine, space, physics, technology; we are still in the infancy of understanding the human mind. It remains to a large extent, a human mystery. Has this had an impact on our lack of a coherent strategy when it comes to mental health? We know we need to cultivate a healthy mind, but do we really know how? I personally don’t think we do, and as a result, it remains low on the list of priorities for many people and even more worrying, there is no national policy which clearly defines the strategies for integrating mental health into the consciousness of the population. As far as I can see, the World Health Organisation’s policy only defines a future vision, not a current one. Therefore, without actual, authentic applications taught educationally to young people, what will they ever truly know about the importance of mental health? Or dare I say, what do they even care about it?

Again, and again, it comes back to education. If we truly believe in the seriousness of mental health, why isn’t it being taught not just adequately in schools but with a sustaining approach? An approach which will make young people sit up and be inspired? An approach which not only they can understand but they can apply every day? Coming back to the teacher who claimed they were there for the teenager’s mental health – why didn’t they therefore lead a lesson on mental health, perhaps not specifically, but linked, with positive outcomes the teenager and their friends could use? I am not criticising, because in all honesty, they probably wouldn’t have time in the already highly pressurised and demanding curriculum that they have to teach each day. A curriculum focused almost exclusively on information rather than skills. A curriculum which needs to be desperately updated. A shift needs to happen for our young people. Right now, what point is there in constant information feeding when it can’t actually be applied in everyday life? It is because it’s easier? Perhaps it’s easier to teach young people about the First World War than it is to teach them how to embrace the unknown and to keep a healthy mental balance.

In short, mental health awareness for children can only work productively when young people truly understand it’s significance, not just on theory but in practise. And what better way to learn but in an educational setting where it could be taught via skill development? However, sadly, not only is education seriously lacking in its application of most skill development, let alone mental health education, the current situation of lockdown number three is escalating the problem of children’s mental health at an alarming rate. And sorrowfully, our young people have no idea what to do about it.