Are schools failing their teachers?
There were tears in the eyes and the impact of having experienced a traumatic event was evident.
“If I had done this training 12 months ago things could have been so different”
It is lunch break in a Mental Health First Aid Youth course and this passionate, experienced teacher is dealing with the realisation that if they had been trained in MHFA earlier it might have changed the outcome for a member of their class.
Nine months earlier a student left their class at the end of the lesson and in the lunch break that followed attempted to end their life through suicide. The teacher had been aware in class that something was different.The student was out of sorts and acting differently. Instead of having a conversation about their mental health the teacher made an attempt at humour. “Have you had a late night, too much Netflix”
Why isn’t every teacher made to do this course?
It’s a question we are often asked.The facts are well-known to all school leadership and governance teams.
- 1 in 4 Australian youth will experience a mental health issue in the next 12 months.
- 1 in 12 Australian youth will have serious thoughts about suicide.
- 1 in 40 Australian youth will attemp to end their life with suicide the number one cause of death in Australian youth.
- 50% of all people who suffer mental illness throughout their life will have their first episode before they turn 18 (75% before 25).
- The majority of young people will not seek help and if not provided help the impact on their life will be ongoing and substantial.
But additionally, what is the impact on the teacher who experiences one of their class being impacted by mental health. A teacher who does not feel confident or skilled enough to be able to have a conversation about mental health with them.
In 2022 Going Beyond Results has personally trained over 300 educators from more than 20 different schools. In almost every course there are teachers who shows signs of trauma from the mental health issues that had previosuly arised within their students or staff members, family or firends. Unless people are trained in MHFA they may well be concerned that what they say may be wrong or even worse it may make things worse.
What is the short and long term impact on these teachers, their mental and physical health?
All are vital but mental health seems to be lesser in importance as a focus. Why is this so?
In over 30 years of working in schools, we have completed fire training every year and yet, have never had to put out a fire.
By no means are we pushing to stop other vital PD, but when mental health issues are the top 4 health burdens for youth aged 15 -24 years old, surely things must change.
The Top 4 health burdens for youth aged 15-24 are:
- Suicide and self inflicted injuries
- Anxiety disorders
- Depressive disorders
- Alcohol use disorders
- Asthma
Most secondary teachers will have 4 or 5 classes of up to 25 students. If the statistics say 1 in 4 students will experience a mental health issue, then the average secondary school teacher will potentially have up to 25 students in their classes impacted by mental health each year. 7 or 8 will have serious thoughts of suicide and statistically 2 or 3 will attempt to end their life.
Are our teachers trained to deal with it? Why not?
A number of schools do undertake mental health training. Even more just tick a box by recognising ‘R U OK’ day and bringing in an “expert” to talk about mental health. Useful, but we’d argue that is not enough?
When recently completing physical first aid training we were required to practice resuscitation, defib and bandaging in addition to the content. It wasn’t just a talk, but a practice of skills. If we are not getting our teachers to practice the skills of mental health first aid we are at best providing a token response to what is acknowledged as a major issue for our youth and setting our teachers up for failure and emotional pain.
Some schools just ignore the elephant in the room and hope that they are lucky enough to avoid a critical incident in their school. Yes, it’s an uncomfortable topic to talk about but even if it is addressed as a purely governance issue, how is your school managing this risk?
Mental health is a burning issue for our youth, it’s a good thing we’ve done fire saftey training (pun definitely intended).
Make sure your teachers and staff are trained
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a research-based program that has been running for over 21 years across 20 different countries and nearly 1 million Australians have been trained. It is affordable and has options that make it possible to timetable it into a schools PD schedule.
Going Beyond Results works with schools to provide affordable and convenient opportunities to complete MHFA Youth courses.
Mental Health First Aid
Learn more about Mental Health First Aid Australia and read Gary’s instructor profile.