Scotland’s North Ayrshire Council puts counselor in every school
Johnston said, “More and more of our young people, particularly males, are coming out of their shells and are beginning to talk more about the issues they are going through.
“I don’t think there is any doubt it (this scheme) will save lives”.
School ‘patchy’ counseling support
In 2017 a BBC investigation found more than 250,000 children in Scotland had no access to school-based counseling services.
It found that 14 local authorities had no on-site counselors and provision by other councils was irregular.
North Ayrshire only had two counselors in nine of its secondary schools at the time.
In the 2018 Program for Government, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced £250 million of funding across the next five years to support mental health services, in particular for young people.
This includes £60 million for schools, supporting 350 counselors and 250 extra school nurses, to ensure every secondary school has a counseling service.
The Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) praised North Ayrshire for leading the way.
Public Affairs Manager Carolyn Lochhead said, “I think it is going to have a really big impact. We know from Wales that schoolbased counseling does help children.
“It helps to reduce their distress and most cases are dealt with
Counselors ‘saving lives’
Stephanie Belshaw is the counselor for Auchenharvie Academy in Stevenston, a town and parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland.
She said, “I see roughly about 20 pupils every week. Roughly four a day.
“That can be quite consistent depending on if anything comes up.
“For example, yesterday, I had a student that I had to squeeze in in the afternoon and then have a meeting with the parents after.”
Scheme ‘eliminates the stigma’
Lewis Thomson, 16, is a pupil at Auchenharvie Academy.
He said, “Definitely it will help to save lives and help people improve quality of life.
“It will make them feel more themselves and not have to put on a character or façade in front of others.”
Fellow pupil Karis Keane, 17, said, “I think it has made a huge difference. It has begun to eliminate the stigma that it is OK not to be OK.
“We are allowed to have bad days. The service is there and we all know it’s there. Even if we don’t use it then we know if we have any problems we can go and use it.”