Mental health issues are not just common with adults and many children suffer from mental illnesses. Children are less likely to come forward about their illness due to a lack of awareness and also what with the government cuts there is increasingly less support for children at school.
In 2004, government statistics showed that 1.3 million children were diagnosed with a mental illness. There has been no further research by the government on this matter since 2004, however we can only assume that this number has increased in the last 10 years what with growing mental health awareness and stressors of the economic downturn. This of course excludes that evasive ‘dark figure’ of mental illness with the percentage of children who continue suffer in silence. In 2004 there was little emotional support for children at school and this apparently has not changed in the last 10 years. It seems the only difference is that more children are coming forward about their issues meaning that there is even more demand for mental health resources in schools than there was 10 years ago. This ultimately increases pressure on teachers who are by no means mental health professionals.
Perhaps schools need to focus a little more on the happiness and wellbeing of their students rather than focusing solely on their education. The two, it can be argued, work together in unison and thus unhappy children would make for bad grades. Chris Harrison, national executive member and former president of the NAHT, says “The issue of mental health … isn’t yet a priority in schools. We need to accept that preparation for life is about more than academic results.”
There is some availability of mental health services for young individuals such as Child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs), however the council budget cuts on Camhs has been detrimental. There are charities that work to help children and are trying their best to extend their services to schools however it does not yet seem to be enough. If the issue of child mental health problems is not tackled sooner rather than later more children will find themselves susceptible of being detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 thus removing them from education. Solicitors trained in mental health Law can work to bring children out of hospital and back into school where there should be available emotional support for them to continue with their lives. The government should work to achieve a healthy solution for this problem.