Schools record big rise in reports of suicide attempts, self harm and bullying

Cries for help from children have doubled since the start of the pandemic, as schools field anonymous tip-offs through an app.

Schools are dealing with double the number of reports of suicide attempts and self-harm among students since the start of the pandemic last year.

Stymie, an app used by 200 schools for students to anonymously report concerns about their classmates, flagged 1848 cases of children with “suicidal thoughts’’, and 3568 cases of self-harm, between January and June this year.

Reports of suicide and self-harm, as well as 18,000 reports of bullying and 3000 reports of mental health concerns, have doubled this year compared to the first half of 2020.

Stymie founder Rachel Downie. Picture: Mick Tsikas

Stymie founder Rachel Downie was Queensland Australian of the Year in 2020, and is featuring in the 2021 season of Survivor as part of the Brains tribe.

She invented Stymie – which sends notifications directly to schools – after losing a Year 9 student to suicide during her time working as a deputy principal.

“A few days after he died, we had students contact the school telling us he was bullied, experiencing family violence and had suicidal ideation,’’ Ms Downie said.

“I know that if we had the details of this harm, we could have helped him, because despite checking in with him every day, he was too frightened to tell us what was happening.’’

The Stymie app

Ms Downie on Survivor.

Ms Downie said cyber-bullying was increasing with so many children communicating online, where it was easier for them to say something hurtful than if they were speaking to classmates face-to-face.

She said lockdowns and school closures were harming children’s mental health.

“There is a sense of hopelessness about the future,’’ she said.

“Year 12 kids haven’t been able to attend formals or key celebratory moments where they get to be a kid and celebrate with each other.

“The feel like they are going to be sitting at home forever.’’

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Originally published as Schools record big rise in reports of suicide attempts, self harm and bullying