Schools close doors to King
Officials stop mental health battler speaking to kids. Ryan Dunlop reports.
Mental health crusader Mike King believes a ‘‘misinformed’’ fearmongering campaign is to blame for several high schools withdrawing an invitation for him to speak to students.
Ahead of his keynote speech to the NZ First party conference this morning, King was invited to speak at eight schools in the South Canterbury region on self-esteem and keeping their ‘‘inner critic’’ in check.
However, Temuka High School, Geraldine High and Opihi College then retracted the invitations. After being contacted by South Canterbury District Health Board suicide prevention coordinator Professor Annette Beautrais, they told King he was no longer welcome.
King said Beautrais advocated a ‘‘silent’’ approach to tackling suicide. He described her as belonging to one of the last pockets of academia who still believed in trying to bring down the stubbornly high suicide rates by burying their heads in the sand.
‘‘At the moment in this country, you’ve got a bunch of old people, academics and clinicians busy behind closed doors discussing what they believe are the solutions for our youth and they’re excluding young people,’’ King said.
‘‘My approach is, wouldn’t it be better to ask them what the problems are and what the solutions are?’’
He was disappointed at Beautrais’ intervention, which he claims was not scientifically informed.
‘‘She hasn’t been to any of my talks,’’ he said. ‘‘I just feel sorry for her that she’s come from this misinformed place and she is not allowing the young people in these schools to have the opportunity to talk about this subject.’’
Beautrais, who has worked in suicide research and prevention for many years, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Health board chief executive Nigel Trainor confirmed they had raised concerns about King’s visit with the schools.
‘‘Since then we have had discussions with Mike King which have highlighted that our goals are aligned,’’ Trainor said.
‘‘We are working with Mike King and will support his visits.’’
Roncalli College principal Chris Comeau said he had brushed off the health board’s concerns.
‘‘While I can appreciate their concerns, I think it would be far more effective for all of us to get in behind the visit and take advantage of Mike’s high profile to address the issue surrounding mental health.
‘‘After weighing up all the information and researching the Lighthouse Trust, I feel quite comfortable with my decision to host Mike King.’’
Last year in a TV interview, Beautrais claimed suicide should never be mentioned in headlines or on newspaper front pages, wrongly citing Ministry of Health guidelines.
In fact, the guidelines urge media organisations to report suicide in a straightforward manner , and to promote help and information services.
In May, King quit his role on New Zealand’s suicide-prevention panel, describing it as ‘‘a masterclass in butt-covering’’.
NZ First leader Winston Peters said he wanted to hear from King as he was sick of the debate around suicide being ‘‘numbed and dumbed down’’.
‘‘My party is prepared to listen to practical people who have got a serious grasp of what they’re talking about and can give best advice to us. Mental health is a huge problem in this country and we’re not dealing with it.’’