Rather than helping, lessons may be encouraging pupils to dwell on negative feelings without the necessary support to address them
Mind | Comment 17 August 2022 , updated 22 August 2022
By Lucy Foulkes
Michelle D’urbano
TEENAGERS are experiencing a mental health crisis. I am not just talking about the increase in mental health problems that have been reported in them over the past decade or so. I am talking about what UK schools are being asked to do in response.
Many secondary schools in the UK – which educate those aged 11 up to 18 – now teach mental health skills, such as mindfulness or techniques from cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). In a “universal” approach, these lessons are taught to all students, regardless of their level of need. The idea is to give all teenagers …
Article amended on 22 August 2022
We have clarified that it was teenagers with existing mental health problems who were affected by mindfulness lessons