EDUCAT ION
Are the kids alright? AMID RISING MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS IN YOUNG PEOPLE, WE FIND OUT HOW LOCAL SCHOOLS ARE MAKING WELLBEING A PRIORITY
WORDS BY NICOLA FOLEY
Plus, there’s the general pressure everyone is experiencing – as well as the fact that parents might not be able to take things in their stride and provide perspective as they might normally.” At The Leys, the pandemic – and particularly the first lockdown – was especially challenging for overseas boarders, with several unable to go home, and others unable to return straight away when the school reopened after lockdown. However, the situation came with unexpected silver linings, according to the school’s director of pastoral care, Helen Hynd.
pre-existing mental health issues, 80% agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic had made their mental health ‘worse’, while 41% said it had made their mental health ‘much worse’, citing increased feelings of anxiety, isolation and a loss of coping mechanisms or motivation. It’s no wonder that parents, teachers, health practitioners and others at the coalface are sounding the alarm. “There are so many factors at play,” says The Perse deputy head, Ed Wiseman. “Reduced social interactions, the bombardment of bad news, the removal of many protective factors to mental health, such as exercise.
ringing social isolation, disruption to routines, bereavement and money troubles, the pandemic has conjured a
perfect storm for mental health issues. And while most of us have felt the strain at one point or another over the past year and a half, increasing evidence indicates that children and young people have been among the worst affected. According to NHS research, one in six young people are now estimated to have a mental health problem – rising from one in nine pre-pandemic. Startlingly, when Young Minds surveyed young people with
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