More than nurses needed in schools

Parents and youths are ‘‘crying out for help’’ to deal with youth suicide, but it will take more than school nurses to tackle the problem, Manawatu educators say.

On Saturday, Labour deputy leader Jacinda Ardern promised every secondary school would have a full-time nurse and also the support of a GP if Labour won the election. The cost would be about $40 million a year.

Palmerston North’s St Peter’s College principal David Olivier agreed urgent action was needed on youth suicide, but was skeptical a school nurse would be any more effective than the guidance counsellors already in schools.

Olivier said no-one in education would ever turn their back on an offer to help reduce suicides, but real thought needed to be put into how that could be done. ‘‘Any educationist, any teacher, the last thing we want to see is young people taking their lives... [but] I really can’t see how a nurse is going to make that difference.’’

While there were plenty of other areas where a school nurse would help, what’s really vital was a ‘‘free and frank discussion’’ based on evidence about how to reduce youth suicide, Olivier said.

School crisis teams do an ‘‘outstanding job’’ in support of everyone affected when a pupil committed suicide, but it’s not enough, he said. ‘‘That’s reactionary. There’s parents that are crying out for help. There’s youth that are crying out for help and there’s schools that want help developing this debate.’’

Olivier said there was little research available to schools on how to effectively and proactively deal with suicide and the Government needed to fund more of that research. ‘‘There’s got to be ways to look at programmes to give us a clue as to how to start tackling this, in all facets of society.’’

Other educators, like Dannevirke High School deputy principal Diane Sandbrook, fully supported Labour’s idea. She said the school already had plans to introduce a programme dealing with youth mental health and already provided a confidential counselling service to their students.

Sandbrook said educators across the country saw signs pupils felt increasingly stressed and pressured.

Youth counselling needed a different approach than adult mental health and schools are an ideal place to focus prevention efforts, she said.

Highbury Whanau Centre manager Anjali Butler said Labour’s suggestion was a good start. ‘‘A nurse in every secondary school is one option to help identify young people who may be distressed or suffering from mental health concerns. But the issue needs a multipronged approach if we hope to change the incidence of youth suicide.’’

WHERE TO GET HELP

Lifeline (open 24/7) - 0800 543 354 Depression Helpline (open 24/7) 0800 111 757

Healthline (open 24/7) - 0800 611 116

Samaritans (open 24/7) - 0800 726 666