‘Every child must have chance to climb the ladder of opportunity’
ONE of the reasons I was worried about school closures during the pandemic was not just because of the impact on young people’s educational attainment but because of the significant impact on their mental health.
As the charity Mind has pointed out, Covid-19 will leave a “deep and lasting scar on the mental health of millions”.
In March, my Education Select Committee heard from the Royal College of Psychiatrists that there had been a seven per cent rise in girls aged 11 to 16 self-harming.
Since 2019, the number of children being referred for mental health treatment soared by 60 per cent and there was a 46 per cent rise in child eating disorder referrals.
THE Daily Express and Mind have joined forces to raise a significant sum so Britain’s leading mental health charity can continue to provide life-saving support. Mind is calling on the Government to commit £1.459billion to treat young people in the next three years as the Covid fallout continues. Here, Tory MP ROBERT HALFON, left, chair of the Education Select Committee, urges his Government to take four critical steps to prevent children’s mental health becoming an epidemic in itself.
Anxieties
As MPs, we see these cases daily in our local surgeries. I met with a mother from my constituency in Harlow whose daughter had become so concerned about hygiene, she had developed OCD.
Her hands were red-raw and bleeding from washing them.
But children aren’t getting the help they need. An investigation by the Children’s Commissioner noted that despite the increase in referrals, the number of children accessing the treatment they need increased by just four per cent.
If children’s mental health problems aren’t to become an epidemic, the Government needs to take four urgent steps.
First, they must rocket-boost the proposals in the Mental Health Green Paper to put a mental health professional in every school.
Good mental health and wellbeing at the ages of 14 to 15 has a significant association with educational attainment at 18.
Second, we need to recognise the importance of prevention.
I visited Newham Collegiate Sixth Form recently where a coach is employed to work with students to develop techniques to conquer their anxieties.
School assemblies are utilised to teach techniques to help manage highly pressured environments, drawing on examples presented by sporting personalities such as Simone Biles.
In private study periods, the desks are set up to resemble an exam hall so it’s not scary.
Third, the Government should consider extending the school day especially in areas with high levels of disadvantage. Young people who participate in school sports clubs are 20 per cent less likely to suffer from a mental health disorder. Girls are 25 per cent less likely to be at risk of anxiety and 11 per cent less likely to self-harm.
Finally, so many young people I talk to speak harrowingly about how social media impacts on their mental health. There should be a levy of two per cent for social media giants to create a funding pot of £100million for any treatments.
We can turn the tide if we act on the will to do so and thereby ensure that every child has the chance to climb the ladder of opportunity.