One in 10 young people between the age of five and 16 suffers from a diagnosed mental health problem – on average, that’s three pupils in every class. Being able to talk about difficulties is essential, especially since cuts to children’s mental health services mean schools are taking an ever greater role in offering support. So how can you start these conversations with your students?
Primary
Pupils are taught from a young age how to take care of their bodies, but looking after their minds often comes later, if at all. Try displaying this colourful poster from Place2Be to get them thinking about simple steps to look after their mental health, such as asking themselves how they feel and discussing it with someone nearby.
Children also need to be aware that things will sometimes go wrong – and that’s OK. Resilience is, undoubtedly, one of the most valuable skills they can develop. This assembly, also from Place2Be, uses the analogy of a giraffe who desperately wants to dance to explore the idea of persevering even when things seem impossible.
Learning how to unwind is also vital; you can take an active approach to relaxation by bringing yoga to your lessons. This resource from Calm for Kids introduces three calming poses that can be practised in class – diamond, mouse and the do-nothing doll – explained in child-friendly language such as “imagine the floor is a piece of warm toast and you are a little ball of butter, gently melting over it”. There are lots more tips and resources in this How to Teach ... Yoga guide too.
Your pupils may have been thinking about mental health without realising it if they have watched Inside Out. The story, set inside the brain of an 11-year-old girl named Riley, cleverly explores competing emotions – joy, sadness, fear, anger and disgust – and how difficult life can feel when they are out of sync. This guide from IntoFilm offers discussion questions on the issues raised by the film, and an activity to create a character-based emotion and consider how it would interact with the others.
For an even more abstract offering, try this introductory video on mindfulness. It uses a wise thumb on a mountain top (honestly), to explain what mindfulness is and why it is helpful, and to offer practical tips on doing it, such as focusing on which foot is warmer and spotting the difference between peas on a plate.
And if you’d like further advice, try this guide to supporting students’ mental wellbeing from All Saints Catholic school, this collection of tips from Place2Be, and this guide to creating an effective whole-school wellbeing approach from the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition and Public Health England.
Secondary
Moving to secondary school can be a difficult time, and issues such as bullying and peer pressure can make it especially hard for students to speak out about what they are experiencing. This conversation starter activity from Sport Relief teaches them to make an origami fortune-teller-style device, but containing positive advice about creating links and starting discussions with friends and family. And this accompanying fact-and-fiction activity busts common myths about mental health.
For an interactive approach, try this online choose-your-own-adventure game, called The Kid. It explores a day in the life of John Wood, a student dealing with depression. Players are presented with a series of choices throughout the tale – should he confront or ignore bullies at his school, for example – which dictate the action.
If your students (or someone they know) are struggling, direct them to this SOS guide from Rethink Mental Illness. It includes real-life case studies such as “cutting myself was the only thing that helped” and “when Jack heard voices”. Each is presented with guides covering what to do, what to say and how to respond in a crisis.
It’s also enormously useful to teach young people about what mental illness actually is. This lesson opens with Matthew Johnstone’s moving animation I had a black dog, his name is depression, before exploring the genetic forces at work in those who suffer from it. And this lesson tackles the stigma of mental health by presenting a series of true or false statements (“Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened” and “The only things you can be addicted to are drugs and alcohol”), followed by a class discussion.
Finally, you can look at wider issues relating to mental health with this collection of articles and activities from The Day. They include topics such as the rise of loneliness in the modern age; the possible benefits of being aggressive in competitive sport; and how mindfulness can be as effective as medication in treating depression.
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