IT is ‘vital’ that provisions are in place to support young people’s mental health, the Children’s and Education Minister has said after a father whose daughter took her own life called for suicide prevention to be part of the curriculum.
Deputy Inna Gardiner confirmed that the first meeting to discuss the issue with the Island’s Curriculum Council will take place next month.
Rob Mason, who lost his 14-year-old daughter Kezia in March, made the appeal after taking part in the penultimate leg of the 3 Dads Walking challenge, which has seen Andy Airey, Mike Palmer and Tim Owen – who all lost a daughter to suicide – walk to each of the UK’s four parliaments and raise nearly £1 million for charity.
Deputy Gardiner said: ‘My heart goes out to families who have lost a loved one to suicide. It is vital that we have a full range of provisions in place to support children and young people’s mental health to help them before issues escalate.
‘We know that mental-health issues are prevalent, especially among young people, because we hear this from young people. The previous Jersey Youth Parliament focused on mental-health support for young people, and the contents on the PSHE curriculum.’
She added: ‘I will have my first meeting with the Curriculum Council on 9 November to discuss Jersey’s curriculum and ensure that it meets the needs of students, teachers and the wider world. I am considering the reports of the Jersey Youth Parliament and will be discussing their research in the next meeting in November.’
Mr Mason said he wanted to ‘bring the message back to Jersey’ after joining the 600-mile challenge, which has been backed by stars including James Bond actor Daniel Craig.
It ended with a 100,000-signature petition being handed to MPs in Westminster, urging the UK to include suicide prevention on the school curriculum.
Mr Mason said: ‘I think there will still be some resistance to it because some people think that you shouldn’t talk about it in case you put the idea in people’s minds. But it’s a myth and if you don’t talk about it in a safe, controlled way they’ll find somewhere unsafe to discuss it.
‘The intention is to equip them [pupils] with the skills and understanding they need to save themselves if their mood dips.’
He added that he now believed if his daughter had had those skills, she might not have made ‘an impulsive decision with tragic consequences’.
Mr Mason said: ‘We have an opportunity to act more quickly than the UK in Jersey because we are autonomous.
‘The best possible outcome would be if the school curriculum here contains specific, age-appropriate suicide prevention to break the taboo.
‘Being a teenager is a challenge in itself, but we can’t protect them by avoidance of the subject. Shying away from the issue may result in missed opportunities to save lives.’
Mr Mason’s son Ben (16) won three awards at this year’s JEP Pride of Jersey Awards, after raising more than £106,000 for charity through his campaign to raise awareness of issues around mental health following his sister’s death.
Members of the Jersey Youth Parliament have been critical of the standard of mental-health services in Jersey.
In a survey of 288 young people, nearly half thought support was inadequate and 22% didn’t know where to go for help.
They have called for a fit-for-purpose children’s mental-health strategy, a dedicated inpatient facility for young people in crisis, and improved mental-health education and support in schools.
