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How to cultivate
a positive culture
around mental health
A mentally healthy school environment helps to safeguard young people’s
current and future success, writes Jo Loughran, director at Time To Change.
was badly bullied at
secondary school and
what little confidence I had
dripped away over four
years. I told only my English teacher and
head of year – and attribute his support
to keeping me alive. Even so, I
developed an eating disorder; it gave
me the control I didn’t have in the
rest of my life.
Studying kept my mind off things
and I left school with good qualifications,
but zero self-esteem and a great deal
of self-stigma. I couldn’t face going to
university and after a couple of years at
a secretarial college, got my first
full-time role at a London solicitors.
Ironically, bullying was rife and a
mentally healthy work environment was
not a priority.
When I look back on those times, it
lights a fire in my belly to ensure no one
else feels that alone or isolated and to
help create a generation that reaches
its full potential.
I
Prioritising wellbeing
Today, one in 10 young people under
the age of 16 will experience a mental
health problem such as anxiety,
depression or conduct disorder; that’s
three in an average classroom. Of those,
90% will experience discrimination.
In a survey Time to Change
conducted with young people, of
those who had experienced a mental
health problem:
72 // WELLBEING
• more than half said it prevented
them hanging out with friends
• more than a third said it stopped them
going to school
• more than a quarter that it made
them give up on life.
Meanwhile, 50% told us that fear of
a negative reaction put them off
applying for a job, and 30% said it
prevented them taking up a place at
university or college.
From our work, we know that as
well as identifying pupils with specific
mental health needs, it’s vital to create
an environment where students can talk
openly about mental health without
fear of judgement. If students feel their
emotional wellbeing is being prioritised,
they are better able to engage in
learning and reach their potential.
Whole-school approach
Schools with senior leadership buy-in
create a more sustainable model for
promoting an open culture around
mental health. It’s also important to take
a whole-school approach: from student
leaders driving activities, through to
headteachers who feel it is an essential
part of school life, not a ‘nice to have’.
Everyone has a part to play in
breaking down stigma. By opening up
the conversation, schools won’t be
‘opening a can of worms’ but helping
to facilitate a shift in culture to the
benefit of staff and students alike.
JO LOUGHRAN
DIRECTOR, TIME TO CHANGE