Understanding the Intersection of Education Policy and Mental Health

The school mental health team also needs to develop a network of connections within a school’s local community, which might include local health services, families, civil society organizations, and youth groups; Schools can form a school mental health team, as a part of the school-health system, which may include school leaders, teachers, school-based mental health staff, and special education teachers. And (2) How should schools facilitate mental health promotion? It’s not known how many schools have a separate mental health policy. This document should explicitly bring together other policies that address mental health issues, such as safeguarding, anti-bullying and SEND, to ensure the approaches within them are aligned. Research indicates that schools implementing comprehensive mental health programs see improved student outcomes, such as increased academic performance and reduced behavioral issues.

Children and Young People’s Mental Health Policies Tracker

Summary of relevant findings from the included UN agencies’ policy documents on school-based mental health promotion. The production of school mental health guidelines and manuals is a public health policy approach used by UN agencies; such documents are widely acknowledged for their credibility, practicality, and global relevance, both for high-income countries (HIC) and low-middle-income countries (LMIC). These factors may lead to difficulties aligning different documents and inadvertently contribute to unclear expectations of schools’ roles in promoting mental health and wellbeing. In this context, schools are expected to act as settings that can deliver actions to promote positive mental health and wellbeing, prevent mental disorders, as well as manage student mental health needs, including identification, referral, and provision of support (8–11).

It has since become a well recognised event, with hundreds of schools and colleges participating across the UK (and beyond!) as well as hundreds of children, parents and carers. Our theme is ‘This is My Place’ where we’re encouraging peers, families, schools and communities to create an environment that gives children and young people a sense of belonging. We’d love to have you join us celebrate the week each year, build further understanding and raise vital funds for children and young people’s mental health. Even with the best educational interventions, stigma can prevent those who need help from seeking help.

Funding Statement

• Organizations like the Pew Research Center and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) perform ongoing research that builds on our understanding of the effects of social media on mental health.
• The Cuts Hurt report on public health programs shows that every $1 invested in prevention can save up to $5 in future medical and legal costs.
• Mental health literacy offers an evidence-based, four-component framework for mental health education that can be adapted to developmentally and culturally appropriate levels.
• Handbook of school-based mental health promotion an evidence-informed framework for implementation.

Embodying health and education sector expertise within school-health committees is also required. Within a comprehensive school-health framework, the expectations are that schools invest in building their internal and external capacities around a variety of roles. Schools are learning environments that, year by year, month by month, and even day by day, build on earlier investments that extend students’ engagement and capabilities, consistent with knowledge of their cognitive, social, and emotional capabilities. UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Schools initiative focuses on the wellbeing of the whole child, including attention to the different needs of different groups according to gender, physical ability, and socio-economic status, appreciating the importance of these for health and education. There is also growing emphasis on the interface between educational attainment and health. Given these opportunities, it would be pleasing to see future generic policy documents articulate how they link to specific guidelines, and vice versa, as articulated by at least some of these documents (37).

These UN agency guidelines and manuals consistently reinforce the importance of supporting schools to provide an enabling context for mental health and wellbeing. While feasible for schools to implement, such universal approaches to mental health promotion require intentional, thoughtful, and measured approaches, just as schools require to achieve their learning objectives (16). The Global Standards for Health-promoting Schools encourages schools to create the type of social and learning environments that support respectful relationships between students and warm, engaging relationships between students and teachers (15, 54).

What specific policies impact student mental health?

Less frequently noted across policy documents was the need to promote the mental health and wellbeing of all school community members, including teachers and school staff, which was particularly noted in the new Global Standards and Indicators for Health-promoting Schools and Systems (15, 16). The universal approach appears to have been widely interpreted as reflecting aspects of school curricula (e.g., individual student-focused approaches to developing skills-based health education) and extra-curricular activities for students, together with efforts to promote the establishment of healthy school environments. Part of the comprehensiveness of the framework is that strategies for promoting Carter Center School-Based Mental Health Resources mental health and wellbeing spanned from preventively oriented approaches to health promotion while also acknowledged the importance of access to health services. Further uncertainty is around the extent to which these documents use common frameworks or approaches toward school-based mental health promotion.

At-risk children may have a substantially greater risk of experiencing mental health disorders, especially those connected with traumatic stress, such as abuse and neglect. Children’s mental health has been and will continue to be a top priority for state leaders across both legislative and executive branches of state government. While local school districts often have autonomy in implementing and administering policies and programs, states can provide guidance for these policies by issuing requirements and recommendations.