Harry prompts schools mental health advice

TEACHERS at every school in the country will be given special training to recognise mental health issues in children, as part of a new Government initiative.

The move follows Prince Harry’s disclosures in The Daily Telegraph that he had sought counselling to help come to terms with the death of his mother.

Theresa May hailed his intervention and said it would help “smash the stigma” surrounding mental health and make thousands of people realise that they are “not alone”.

Now teachers and other school staff will receive practical advice on how to recognise issues including depression and anxiety, selfharm, and eating disorders.

Over the next three years some 3,000 staff, covering every secondary school in England, will be given special training to deal with pupils’ mental health problems which will make a “real difference to children’s lives”, the Prime Minister said yesterday.

The programme is delivered by social enterprise Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England, backed by £200,000 in Government funding and will be extended to primary schools by 2022.

Prince Harry was praised for his bravery after revealing in an interview with The Daily Telegraph that he has had therapy to help come to terms with his mother’s death, adding that there has for too long been a “taboo” about speaking about such important issues.

Caroline Hounsell, the lead for the Youth MFHA in Schools programme, said that Prince Harry opening up about his mental health was “absolutely intrinsic” to re-igniting public debate on the topic.