Education charity Parentkind has today launched a new collection of research charting the mental health challenges faced in schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The new report coincides with World Mental Health Day 2022, a day set aside each year to note the importance of positive mental health and campaign for parity between the importance assigned to physical health and psychological wellbeing.
Increased level of worry
Parentkind, a national charity which regularly polls parents on a range of topics affecting children and young people, particularly noted the increased level of worry that parents report about the mental wellbeing of their child.
Pulling together research that thousands of parents contributed to, Parentkind’s Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education notes that:
- 55 per cent of parents reported that they were concerned about exam stress, 54 per cent were worried about levels of anxiety and 49 per cent reported that their child was suffering with stress related to homework.
- Since 2020, there has been an increase in the number of parents reporting that their child had experienced cyber-bullying (up 6 per cent), pressure to constantly engage with social media (up 5 per cent) and even self-harm (an increase of 5 per cent year on year).
Publishing the collated research, Parentkind’s chief executive, John Jolly backed parents’ calls for more support for young people, particularly support that is integrated in schools:
Jolly: A growing problem with mental health and that support needs to improve
John Jolly said,
“This research is based on huge amounts of data compiled in recent years, all looking at the important issue of child mental health and wellbeing. At Parentkind we trust that parents are the experts on their children, and parents are saying loud and clear that there is a growing problem with mental health and that support needs to improve.
“From increased levels of exam-stress and anxiety, to worrying figures on self-harm, eating disorders and substance misuse, we’re calling on government to improve and increase the level of support in schools. Choosing not to do so will simply store up problems for the future and leave too many young people without an adequate lifeline.
“When we’ve spoken to parents, they’ve been clear about the problems and clear about the solutions too. Today, we’re backing their calls for funding for mental health services in schools that provide much-needed support in the educational setting. Educators up and down the country are doing a brilliant job in tough circumstances, what’s needed is the funding to make change happen. We hope that government will stand with parents, and invest in the positive mental health of young people going forward.”
News shared by Kerry-Jane on behalf of Parentkind. Ed
Image: hello-i-m-nik under CC BY 2.0
