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Teachers should offer mental health support, says charity

Posted on 21st July 2008

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Teachers in state and independent schools should be equipped with the ability to offer pupils support in the event of possible mental health issues, it has been suggested.

Charity YoungMinds has called on the government to address this issue, in the wake of Labour's publication of an independent review of child and adolescent mental health services.

All those who work professionally with children should be trained to address this problem, the organisation has said.

"We are not calling for everyone to become a therapist but to simply understand the role they can play in spotting mental health problems at an early stage," said YoungMinds' deputy chief executive Julia Mason.

The charity was commenting following research it has conducted, which found that 80 percent of seven to 13-year-olds would rather discuss a delicate issue with their teacher than a health professional.

Its suggestion follows similar calls by children's charity Barnardo's, which argued that GPs, parenting groups and youth centres should offer support for children who show signs of mental health problems.

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