More than two-thirds (69 per cent) of young people would worry about being judged or dismissed if they told someone they were struggling with their mental health.
A new resource for schools is looking to change that: See Me See Change is a new approach to tackling mental health stigma and discrimination in secondary schools, bringing staff and students together to form an action plan designed especially for their school.
The approach has been designed by See Me, Scotland’s programme to end mental health stigma and discrimination.
While awareness of mental health has improved in recent years, stigma and discrimination still exist, as Tes has frequently documented.
According to See Me, half of young people say they have been judged, dismissed or treated unfairly because of a mental health problem, while just under four in 10 (39 per cent) say that they think teachers take them seriously when they try to talk about mental health.
Teachers, however, have long been saying that they need more support to cope with the rising number of students with mental health problems, particularly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
At the weekend, the EIS teaching union held its first in-person annual general meeting since the pandemic began.
Last year, Carole Thorpe, then EIS president, made mental health a focus of her AGM speech, saying the union had been calling for more resources for mental health support for pupils for a long time but “for many years, our young people have had to wait for months and even years to access any support”.
However, just being willing to lend an ear to young people could go a long way, found Yvonne Wilson, Scottish Borders Council’s health and wellbeing support officer for schools, who was involved in the pilot of the new See Me resources.
She said: “We all want to help our young people with the growing problem that there is at the moment around mental health.
“As teachers, we are often the first point of contact for young people who are experiencing problems with their mental health. However, many staff do not feel they have the right knowledge and skills to offer the support required. The training from See Me has given staff the confidence to have those initial conversations.
“One message that we all took away from See Me See Change is that the most important thing you can do is listen.”
Rosie Woods, who was one of the teachers to lead on the pilot at Lochend Community High School in Glasgow, said: “See Me See Change really gave us the time to chat about mental health issues, such as the use of language that carries negative connotations and the impact that this can have. We’re now moving into the action planning stage, with some short- and long-term goals taking place over the next school session.”
See Me See Change is made up of separate pupil and staff training sessions focusing on mental health, stigma, discrimination and ways of tackling the issue. After the sessions, pupils and staff come together to develop an action plan for their school, looking at ways to tackle mental health stigma and discrimination.
It also gives schools the chance to be part of the wider See Us movement, calling on people all over Scotland to join forces to tackle the mental health stigma and discrimination that continue to exist in society.
Wendy Halliday, director of See Me, said: “Mental health is part of everyone’s day-to-day life and it affects all of us, but there is still stigma attached to it. To tackle this properly, we need young people to understand that it is OK not to be OK and you can talk about it.
“We want to see a culture shift in Scotland around mental health. This needs to start in schools so children and young people are having open conversations on this from an early age.”
She added: “We’ve seen some really impressive ideas and results coming from our pilot schools which I know are going to make a real difference for their pupils and staff.
“I would encourage any school to get involved in See Me See Change and make a positive difference for their young people.”
Schools can access all the information they need to take part in See Me See Change through the See Me website, seemescotland.org. It is free to take part, with all the tools, resources and facilitation notes available online for schools to access and use at their own pace.
