By Headucation UK has launched a petition to make mental health education compulsory in all UK schools.
Mental health education is still not part of the UK curriculum despite consistently high rates of child and adolescent mental health issues. By educating young people about mental health in schools, it can increase awareness and hope to encourage open and honest discussion among young people.
Young Minds research suggests that 1 in 10 children and young people aged 5 – 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder, that is around three children in every class.
There has been a big increase in the number of young people being admitted to hospital because of self harm. Over the last ten years this figure has increased by 68%.
Image: The Telegraph
Dr Alex George has shared his concerns warning parents of children heading back to school when lockdown restrictions are lifted.
The former Love Island contestant shared some important advice after being announced as the government’s new youth mental health ambassador.
Following his appointment last week, Dr Alex has recommended that young people are given flexibility when heading back to the classroom.
The NHS doctor suggested that forcing some kids back too soon will only ‘exacerbate’ problems if they are feeling anxious.
Speaking to the BBC’s Newscast podcast, Dr Alex said: “As children are integrated back to schools we need to be a little bit more flexible about the time of transitioning back.
“You can’t just expect someone who’s very anxious to go back to school, will go back to normal. It might be that that child needs a bit of time to integrate slowly back in the classroom, so that rather than chucking them in and exacerbating the problem, we do it gently.”
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