George Lee students push for better youth mental health services
Carrying placards and chanting phrases like “we are in despair for mental health care,” Shelly Reed’s Grade 7 students marched their way to the Saskatchewan Legislative Building on Friday morning.
Calling themselves the “AdvoKids,” the students worked for weeks researching and writing letters, in efforts to lobby the provincial government for improved youth mental health supports.
“We thought enough is enough and we need to do something. We need to take a stand for children,” said 12-year-old Zara Qamer. “And we’re children, so we feel like adults are going to listen to us because if children are raising their voices, then so can adults.”
“If we can get more funding for mental health, if we can be nice to others, then this problem will get better and it needs to,” said Antonio Angelopoulos, 13.
The George Lee School students determined the government funds youth mental health supports at a small fraction of the total investment — three per cent, they say.
The government’s total 2018-19 investment in mental health funding was $284 million.
The provincial auditor stated in her most recent report, released Thursday, that 80 per cent of youths in the former Prince Albert Parkland health region who needed to see a psychiatrist waited more than 20 days.
“Even at our school that is a middle socio-economic school, kids sometimes have to wait two, three weeks to two or three months to be able to get help,” said Reed.
Qamer said a good friend comes to school crying, in need of help, and only has access to a school counsellor on Thursdays.
“The government needs to see this. See that lots of kids are struggling, and sometimes they don’t see these things because kids are overlooked sometimes,” said Qamer, who has experienced bullying and mental illness in the past.
Her classmate, 13-year-old Mapendo Buhendwa, experienced the same, seeing a psychiatrist after a four-month wait.
“It’s important to me because in the past I got bullied and so I want to spread the word,” said Buhendwa.
Reed’s class began the campaign, which included writing letters to provincial government ministers, after discussing the Parkland, Fla., school shooting in February.
“A person just doesn’t get up and say, ‘Oh I want to go shoot a school.’ There’s obviously many levels that lead up to where they are,” said Qamer.
“Sometimes they’re feeling down, they don’t get help and their anger, their sadness builds up and it leads to these problems.”
“They get up to that point and they just snap,” Angelopoulos agreed. “We need more money to help them and we need more counsellors to help them, because one class a week is not enough”
Qamer would like to see a counsellor at the school four days a week, so that students’ problems can receive immediate attention.
Angelopoulos agreed: “Maybe a few more counsellors at every school in Regina, that would help I’m pretty sure bigtime in the province and in the city of Regina.”
“Long waits can lead to people’s conditions getting worse, and in some cases, waits can even contribute to death,” provincial auditor Judy Ferguson wrote in her report.
In 2014, about 220,000 Saskatchewan residents were dealing with mental illness or addiction to some degree.
NDP MLA Carla Beck met the students Friday morning. Representatives from the Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth’s office were also present.