Teachers are tackling the growing crisis in the mental health of children and young people, with many regularly helping students in need alongside their classroom duties.
Teachers say they have an important role to play in supporting the often fragile mental wellbeing of students, as so many who need help from the NHS are not getting it, a study in Britain has found.
Three in four teachers put a student’s psychological needs first when delivering curriculum at least once a week. That might mean interrupting classes to come to the aid of a young person in need, or adjusting the classroom to help them. One in five does this every day.
Teachers also believe that on average almost one in four (24%) of those they teach need some form of support with their mental health, according to the research from charity YoungMinds, which surveyed 1,002 primary school teachers. and secondary education were surveyed.
James Bowen, the deputy general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “Schools increasingly need to step in and fill the gap left by underfunded mental health services.
“Of hundreds of thousands of young people waiting for specialist support, “The school staff has no choice but to step in and help the students as best they can.”
Mental health problems among school-aged children “are reaching epic proportions and should be a national scandal. There is simply not enough (NHS) provision. Our children are suffering under a system that is not fit for purpose,” said one teacher.
Another said: “We are at a crisis point with mental health care and there is no help for these poor children.”
Nearly 90% of teachers believe they are more involved than ever in providing mental health care to students.
YoungMinds also found:
-
78% of teachers say students’ mental health has worsened since entering the profession.
-
76% say only half or fewer of students who they believe need help with their mental health are receiving it.
-
74% say poor mental health care harms students’ ability to learn.
Laura Bunt, director of the charity, said: “Every day, teachers are juggling teaching and supporting pupils’ mental health, taking time away from lessons because young people desperately need help.”
She urged the government to “urgently deliver on its commitment to provide specialist mental health care in all schools”.
A third teacher said: “All my students have different lives and different things that affect them mentally. It is difficult to tackle them all when I am one person in a small team in addition to my other duties as a teacher.”
NHS England said it was treating 55% more people under the age of 18 than before the Covid pandemic in 2020. A spokesperson added: “We know that much more needs to be done to reduce and ensure unacceptably long patient waiting times ensure that every young person who needs it is able to access specialist mental health care.
“We have added an additional 40,000 mental health staff and plans are in place to ensure that more than one in two pupils and students in schools and colleges have access to an NHS mental health team in the UK by spring 2025 class, well ahead of the original goal.”
In March, the Children’s Commissioner for England announced that 949,200 children and young people were referred to NHS mental health services in 2022-23, with 270,300 waiting for support and waiting times ranging between four days and 147 days.