Mental Health Education

Devan Witter says more understanding from a younger age could help tackle the growing issue, where 1 in every 3 schoolchildren have a mental health condition.

A man from Market Weighton wants mental health to be put on the national curriculum.

Devan Witter, the East Riding anti-bullying ambassador, claims it's vital for school children to understand mental health, as it can be closely linked with bullying.

He believes education looking at the symptoms and treatments will help youngsters recognise how they can help others as they grow older.

Devan says it's important children understand mental health:

"If they're educated about it earlier then they'll understand it more later on if they do sort of see young people developing these mental health conditions. So they'll be more aware of how to approach that young person, rather than pushing them to one side and forgetting about them."

He says they'll be many benefits:

"It'll also help children deal with modern pressures they face, and provide them with the advice they need to seek help, rather than suffer in silence like many other young people have."

Devan says, on average, 3 children in each class could suffer from a mental health condition:

"One in ten children and young people aged 5 to 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder; so that's around every 3 children in every class. So it's quite important that young people are aware of these issues."

The origional article can be seen here.