Mental health programs must be implemented in our schools

We obsess over school literacy and numeracy rankings but are failing the emotional intelligence test. Mental health programs must be implemented in our schools.

Tyrone Unsworth took his life at the age of 13 after being bullied about his sexuality. (Pic: Supplied)

Teaching kids to speak up about bullying doesn’t go far enough in tackling the atrocious state of young people’s mental health.

Would telling teachers he was being victimised have saved Tyrone Unsworth, the 13-year-old Queensland boy who took his life last week?

Tyrone’s family have confirmed that they did not report the bullying to Aspley State High School prior to the Year 7 child being hospitalised last month after being bashed with a fence paling.

Nevertheless, had principal Jaquita Miller been aware, what kind of response might have been actioned? We will never know but I am convinced that mental health must not be an accidental consideration.

Mandate emotional wellness programs in schools — there are many excellent initiatives here and in the UK and US — and then we might see some long-overdue improvement.

Yes, teachers are already stretched due to an unwieldy curriculum but in streamlining the curriculum as governments claim they are committed to doing, then the addition of a compulsory mental health component is a no-brainer.

What’s more, effective learning does not take place where emotional wellness is absent.

We obsess over school rankings in literacy and numeracy but fail the emotional intelligence test.

In an ideal world, parents would be skilled in teaching kids about respect and resilience, leaving educators to stick to the academics but this isn’t the case.

Add the sexting, cyber-bullying and other anti-social behaviour carried out online — where kids increasingly spend their time — and it becomes crystal clear that we need a whole-of-community response.

A letter from a Courier-Mail reader this week said kids needed to speak up about bullying.

“When I was a youngster in the 1940s, if a kid was bullied, others would jump on the offender,” wrote George Harrod, of Caboolture. “Respect was taught to us by parents and teachers, and it was part of our culture.”

Sadly, respect has slipped off the agenda.

For children like Tyrone Unsworth and the many others who are victims of hate, the system is broken. Our kids are crying out to be saved, and blaming a lack of time or resources doesn’t cut it.

There are many proven programs that can help. KidsMatter is a framework for primary schools and early childhood centres that costs peanuts. It has more than 100 programs on everything from emotional literacy to peer mediation, with workbooks from $2.

This week, nine schools were added to the KidsMatter Primary Recognition list, having achieved all four components of the program: positive school community; social and emotional learning; working with parents and carers; and helping students with mental health difficulties.

St Francis Xavier's Catholic Primary School in Lurnea, NSW, is one of the country’s 60 schools on the KidsMatter Primary Recognition list. (Pic: News Corp)

Well done them! That takes the grand total of Australian schools making a tangible difference to 60.

One is Woodridge State School. In one of Queensland’s most disadvantaged areas, the school has 740 students from 30 cultural groups including a large contingent of refugees.

When it embraced KidsMatter in 2011, so many teachers opted in that four subgroups were formed. One specifically targets bullying, with a “cool to be kind” mantra.

Ideas that have stuck include a random act of kindness register, a secret buddy system and, through fundraising, the creation of a wellbeing centre where kids can hang out.

None of this is monumentally difficult. So why only 60 schools?

On Queensland’s the Sunshine Coast, Pacific Lutheran College is powering ahead with the PERMA model developed by American psychologist Martin Seligman. It identifies positive emotion (P), engagement (E), relationships (R), meaning (M) and achievement (A) as cornerstones of wellbeing.

One emotion the Caloundra school of 950 Prep to Year 12 students is focusing on is gratitude. Research shows practising being grateful can lead to a greater ability to deal with adversity as well as improved academic performance.

Principal Bronwyn Dolling says social and emotional learning is as important as academic subjects.

“We see it as growing our culture so that the language of positive psychology we use with our staff becomes the way of being — it flows through all aspects of the classroom,” Ms Dolling says.

Students and staff meet in small groups before and after school daily to reflect on one of 20 themes throughout the year, and these are written about in the newsletter, giving parents an opportunity to pick up on those themes at home.

“It’s about educating the community.”

She says bullying is not a significant problem but if it were, it would be swiftly dealt with using a restorative approach where every person is given the chance to express their feelings and an agreement is reached on how to move forward.

Reading, writing and arithmetic will always matter, but improving educational and emotional outcomes require three additional Rs: respect for others, respect for self and respect for the community.