"I'm Fine"

Schools are the place young people find themselves, where they explore who they are, boyfriends, girlfriends, blue hair, green hair, they explore themselves and try to make the tough journey of discovering who they are and what life is about.

A journey tough enough without added pressures of mental illness.
There is so much pressure on young people at the moment, the government are trying to boost league tables and increase GCSE results, teenagers are being forced to stay in education until they're 18, the focus is entirely on education and grades. But where's the focus on well-being?
There's plenty of emphasis on the values of physical education at school and how schools need to implement mandatory sessions (2+) of P.E per week, agreeable yes, it is important for the body to be kept healthy, but is that all?

There's so much highlighting of healthy eating and cutting out chips and other "junk" within menu's at schools, there is an incredible focus upon this, importantly so, however there is not anything focusing on mental health.

What actually constitutes health? Because there can be a student who absolutely excels at sports, is brilliant at basketball, tennis, hurdles, the whole hog, but maybe, just maybe, she could be suffering from mental health problems.
Many schools overlook mental health because it is something that they can't see, if a student were to start crying because they had fallen over and hurt their ankle they would be sent to a medical room so that somebody could look at it, because they can see it.
 If another student were to start crying because they were suffering mentally, a lot of teacher perceive that to be either attention seeking or nonsense, again, a lot not all, and therefore can be sent to return to lessons, which is absolutely ludicrous as they are probably suffering just as much as any other Tom, Dick and Harry.

So many children are suffering, and nothing is being done to help them, suicide is the biggest killer of 15-25 year olds, in 2013 alone 1600 young people died from suicide. Why is this statistic not making anybody do anything? This statistic is shocking.
When there are shootings and 20/30 people die, the country is stunned into silence, however 1600 people is 80 times that, what will it take to force people to open their eyes?
If 1600 people were gathered in the same place, and miraculously something caused them all to die, there would be complete outcry, the nation would be driven wild, these are people, not just a statistic.

Teenage years are a tough battle as it stands for the average teen, without the inclusion of mental health problems too, so many young people's struggling goes un-noticed and further they go without help.
Self harm is a very taboo subject which a lot of schools tend to avoid, unless you come forward and ask for help, there's none offered, and little to no education on it whatsoever.
Self harm is an incredibly embarrassing problem for many young people, some use it as a coping method which will last for a minuscule amount of time, others use it and it can stay with them forever, and for some it can develop into life threatening self injuring. What the majority of society seem unable to deduce is that self harm is not for attention, a large proportion of people choose to keep it a secret, but what can seem a harmless coping strategy can be a very dangerous slippery slope to get onto.
Common methods include cutting arms with sharp objects, and often people can find they don't get the same "buzz" the same "release" they can start to cut deeper, and not know their bodies limits, how much they can withstand it and sometimes unfortunately young people can end up cutting themselves too deep, they might not have intended to commit suicide, but they equally might not have realized how deep they were going, or what was where in their bodies.
This is why children need to be equipped with the warning signs to spot it, it could be their best friend, their brother, sister, or even themselves one day, they need to know the dangers of it, the reasons behind it, the myths, the facts, they need to know how to spot it and what to do if somebody starts to do it.
There are so many common misconceptions about eating disorders, bipolar, depression, anxiety and many more disorders that need to be addressed, so many people think that mental illness is a choice, it is something to be ashamed of, but it's far from it.
Young people need to have workshops implemented into their curriculum in PSHE, parents need to realise instead of trying to oppose this, they should be helping children to learn about mental health because if it affects them, then they need to know it's OK, that they're not alone, people certainly don't think they're attention seeking and that they need to ask for help.

The issue with mental health is that you can't see it, mental health problems can be incredibly difficult to notice, and often with secretive disorders such as Anorexia, Bulimia, Bipolar and Self Injuring the individual can have been so used to concealing their problems that spotting them can be very difficult, almost impossible.

Which is exactly why there needs to more done to let young people know that they aren't alone, and provide them with the knowledge to identify the warning signs among themselves and friends, and further educate them on the importance of seeking help, the procedures, and identify the myths from the facts regarding other people's opinions.

When their child is ill, parents move heaven and earth to ensure that they're comfortable, have all the cough medicine they need, and generally ensure that they're OK, they constantly ask questions to check this.
This shows that they don't want them to suffer, especially in silence, they try to find out what is wrong, so why should mental health be any different?

They wouldn't want their children to grow up thinking if they fell over and hurt themselves then they could not tell anybody, in fact, the idea sounds immensely obvious and almost laughable.
If somebody is suffering, why would you want them to do so in silence?
So why is mental health any different?

Workshops where young people anonymously submitted their fears and worries and then the tutor randomly pulled one out of a bag to discuss as a class would be beyond useful, it would gratify the person who actually wrote it, whilst providing a blanket of anonymity. They would have the opportunity to hear the class' view on it, and understand that perhaps they would not have gotten the negative response they originally thought, and also it would help the class to see that people do suffer in silence, worries are real, and perhaps they need to be mindful. Further, those who were unsure how to answer, would be equipped with the knowledge to deal with the scenarios, and of course as written by the class, perhaps a few added in by the tutor, they would be real life situations.

Of course there is the added bonus of improving speaking and listening skills, as well as developing problem solving, all of which are a positive asset to the children and valuable skills which they will carry throughout their lives.

No child should suffer in silence, you wouldn't expect them to walk around for 12 months on a broken leg and try to suffer the pain and anguish alone without any help, mental health is no different, there needs to be change and schools are where is starts.

We need to make a difference, we need to educate people, society needs to change, so open your eyes and end the suffering now, before people end it for themselves.