Behaviour and discipline in schools: The impact on mental health and wellbeing
MQ has co-signed a letter to the Secretary of State for Education the Rt Hon Gavin Williamson MP, in response to his recent statements about ‘cracking down’ on poor behaviour in children after months of isolation.
The letter, which is from the Children's Mental Health Coalition, has 58 signatories including Sir Normal lamb, Rethink Mental Illness, The Association of Child Psychotherapists and Invictus Wellbeing among many others.
The letter encourages an evidence based ‘whole school approach’ to promote good behaviour rather than focusing on punitive approaches to behaviour management. Additionally, the letter requests a moratorium on school exclusions this year to protect the most vulnerable children from long term harm.
Punitive approaches to discipline harm children’s mental health and can also be ineffective at achieving the desired outcome. They have the potential to re-traumatise children, and in doing so they can also drive even more challenging behaviour. For example, evidence suggests that school exclusion is associated with worsening mental health, and poor attainment and future life chances.
This letter follows the recent publication of the All Party parliamentary Group for a Fit and healthy Childhood’s Report on the state of young peoples mental health. This Report, which was sponsored by MQ, is called The COVID Generation: A mental health pandemic in the making.
It is vital that schools are a safe space for children, in particular those who are vulnerable and at greater risk of developing mental health conditions. Children from low socio-economic backgrounds, unsafe or unstable homes, those with special educational needs or those who have a genetic pre-disposition to mental health conditions are more likely to have found the last year difficult to cope with.
Children often communicate distress through their behaviour. Studies of children who have lived in quarantine have also shown that behavioural difficulties are common when they return to school.
It is vital that we get our response right to protect our children’s futures. It is up to us to give the COVID generation a voice. - Lea Milligan, MQ's CEO
