[Alasdair]

The Socialist Party

Teenage Depression Act

Preamble:

-Suicide is the third leading cause of death amongst teenagers.

-A national survey of children and adolescents carried out in the community found that 5 per cent of boys and 8 per cent of girls aged 13-15 said that they had, at some time, tried to harm, hurt or kill themselves

-A study in Oxford found that approximately 300 per 100,000 males aged between 15 and 24 years, and 700 per 100,000 females of the same age, were admitted to hospital following an episode of self-harm during the year 2000.

-It is believed that the vast majority of self-harm goes unreported/unnoticed.

-There are numerous other horrendous facts that could be quoted to paint a dire image of the state of our teenage population's mental health. The situation has become intolerable.

-Few schools currently employ a full time counsellor of any kind.

-Although there may be a financial incentive for using the mass-produced treatments Cognitive Behavioural Therapy this house believes in putting people before costs and will strive to get the best for all our young citizens.

BE IT ENACTED by The Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

1) A) All secondary schools shall have a full-time, trained counsellor or psychologist, who works on site, dealing with issues of teen depression and other mental or social dysfunctions.

B) LEAs shall receive additional funding to cover the cost of this requirement.

C) The requirement applies to all schools, not just those funded by the state.

D) Where the size of up to three schools in close proximity to each other does not exceed 1,000 students, LEAs may choose to allocate only one mental health professional, who would then be shared between the schools. In such cases, the aforementioned professional shall have office space all schools, and should aim to flexibly divide his/her time between them. For the purposes of this ill, "close proximity" shall be defined as within 10 miles.

E) Where the number of students enrolled at a school does not exceed 300, and there is no other school within 10 miles, a counsellor may be employed part time – for no less than 2 days a week. Where the number of students does not exceed 500, the counsellor may be employed for a minimum of 3 days a week.

F) Private sector schools shall be expected to fund the counsellor themselves in accordance with the guidelines set out in the rest of this bill.

G) Schools with 3000 or more students shall receive funding for two full-time counsellors.

2) A) The psychologist or counsellor shall be available to:-

-provide all students with appointments on request;
-advise staff;
-approach students about whom staff have expressed concern in order to offer support;
-liaise between individual students, staff, parents, external healthcare providers, and the student body at large on issues of depression and mental well-being.

B) He/she should aim to raise awareness of mental health issues within schools. Moreover, with the help of teaching staff, he/she should attempt to reduce any social stigma attached.

C) He/she will oversee funds set aside to provide Peer Support training to aid the effectiveness of the pastoral infrastructure. This can include staff development and utilising volunteer students.

4) No student’s rights to medical privacy should be compromised. Neither schools nor counsellors shall be required or permitted to turn information about the mental health of a child over to any individual or organisation -- including parents and guardians – unless that child is judged to be a credible danger to themselves or others.

5) A) In accordance with ‘2B’, new criteria shall be added for school inspections:-

-schools’ provision of education about mental health
-how effectively issues such as depression and social difficulties are tackled
-how strongly schools promote tolerance to mental health issues.

B) The ‘PSE’ curriculum will be amended to place strong emphasis on mental health issues – especially late primary school education and the early years of secondary school.

6) The duty of care which schools have towards students shall be extended to explicitly include issues of mental health. Where there is knowledge serious of self-harm, suicidal intentions or serious depression, a school shall henceforth have a duty to try to support and protect that child both in school and by liaising with healthcare providers, social services and parents.

7) The above changes apply to the whole of the UK.

[Alasdair]

Changes are in bold.

[Grape190190]

'1B' should really say "reduce or remove any social stigma attached to mental health difficulties", because erradication, clearly, is the best option. But hey, I'm a sloppy editor.

[oriel historian]

I think I'd like to reiterate my point regarding inspections:

Also on the score of adding to school inspections, I think you should make it clear that they are OFSTED inspections (ESTYN in Wales) and not inspections related to the Independent Schools Council (ISC). Just if you're going to make 'the rich kids' pay, you can't very well compell the inspectorate to take heed of your demands for adding to inspections, not least because OFSTED / ESTYN inspections are different from those of the ISC.

[Eru Iluvatar]

Too hot here to think straight right now, but does look better (will ponder over it in more depth tomorrow)

[sohanshah]

D) Where the size of up to three schools in close proximity to each other does not exceed 1,000 students, LEAs may choose to allocate only one mental health professional, who would then be shared between the schools. In such cases, the aforementioned professional shall have office space in all schools, and should aim to flexibly divide his/her time between them. For the purposes of this ill, "close proximity" shall be defined as within 10 miles.

[Metrobeans]

That was a quick two days! It feels like the bill's been up for about 6 hours! Anyway, this bill does look a lot better.

B) The ‘PSE’ curriculum will be amended to place strong emphasis on mental health issues – especially late primary school education and the early years of secondary school.

One quick question related to this part, what kind of things would children of that age be learning in the amended curriculum?

[SuperhansFavouriteAlsatian]

Therte's still no word on what happens to sdchools who don't comply?#?

Also there's no #3 aha.

[Grape190190]

Originally Posted by 01kij114

What are the self-harm figures after 2000 and leading into 2007?

(Apologies for the approximate quote - I could copy and paste either your username or the text from the other thread, and... well, all those numbers...)

As I've said previously, there aren't a lot of stats on self-harm and most of the ones you do find come with the warning label, "These are crap." Because they are.

You can't get accurate figures for something that, in the majority of cases, never gets reported. That's part of the reason that these counsellors are needed - for indentification.

http://www.selfharm.org.uk/media/sta...s/default.aspa

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/infor...ew/statistics/

This is again old, but interesting: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/753562.stm

I've read stats in a lot of places. Some shock, some... not so much. But they're all useless except as rhetoric.

I think I'd like to reiterate my point regarding inspections:

Originally Posted by oriel historian

Also on the score of adding to school inspections, I think you should make it clear that they are OFSTED inspections (ESTYN in Wales) and not inspections related to the Independent Schools Council (ISC). Just if you're going to make 'the rich kids' pay, you can't very well compell the inspectorate to take heed of your demands for adding to inspections, not least because OFSTED / ESTYN inspections are different from those of the ISC.

why not?

[oriel historian]

Grape needs to sack his copy editor!

Dan - It seems straightforward that state schools would have to comply in the same way as they have to comply with the national curriculum or work experience. And I disagree - the element regarding inspections surely provides a catch for non-compliance. OFSTED penalties should suffice and these are already set out in their charter of responsibilities.

This bill is brought to you by the number 3 and the letter H, as such it is inappropriate they appear on the bill

Now private schools, penalties to be imposed are difficult because they lie outside the state system and whilst compelled to do many things don't have to really do them. I'm not sure what to suggest really!

[ukebert]

Originally Posted by oriel historian

Grape needs to sack his copy editor!

I forgot to look at it

[Nothos]

And what would this councillor do to remove stigma concerning mental health? Wouldn't he/she just sound incredibly patronising to the students?

[wmv94226]

OK, I've decided, I'm gonna 'pluck' and vote for this. Who knows how effective it will be or if it will work, but I like the concept, and as this is a mock Parliament, and we're never going to actually see the results of our work, I think this is worth going for.

[oriel historian]

Originally Posted by Grape190190

why not?

'Cos they're not the same! Central government has no power of the ISC hence it being independent.

I'm not saying we shouldn't just that it's a bit of a difficult subject.

[Grape190190]

Originally Posted by Metrobeans

That was a quick two days! It feels like the bill's been up for about 6 hours! Anyway, this bill does look a lot better.



One quick question related to this part, what kind of things would children of that age be learning in the amended curriculum?

Legislators don't write curricula that directly; that's what we have experts for.

Originally Posted by sohanshah

D) Where the size of up to three schools in close proximity to each other does not exceed 1,000 students, LEAs may choose to allocate only one mental health professional, who would then be shared between the schools. In such cases, the aforementioned professional shall have office space in all schools, and should aim to flexibly divide his/her time between them. For the purposes of this ill, "close proximity" shall be defined as within 10 miles.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by DanGrover

Therte's still no word on what happens to sdchools who don't comply?#?

Also there's no #3 aha.

*headdesk* That'll be fixed for the vote, naturally.

Um, I suppose they'll be shut down. That's a given, surely.

[SuperhansFavouriteAlsatian]

that seems a bit harsh for something that's not there now. pluas, don't think it'll help in the long term.

[Grape190190]

Originally Posted by oriel historian

Grape needs to sack his copy editor!

Grape needs to figure out that when Alasdair PMs him saying, "What do you want to do with the bill?" it doesn't translate as: "GET ME THE SECOND DRAFT NOW OR THE BILL DIES!"

[Grape190190]

Originally Posted by DanGrover

that seems a bit harsh for something that's not there now. pluas, don't think it'll help in the long term.

Yeah, so they'll just comply. It's just another government requirement. I don't see the problem.

[ukebert]

Originally Posted by Grape190190

Yeah, so they'll just comply. It's just another government requirement. I don't see the problem.

But closing the school down is a little harsh. I'd suggest partial removing of funding or similar.

[oriel historian]

Oh god the libertarian in me is kicking in now - The matter really is solved through school inspections. That's the way to sort it out. Leave it to OFSTED to work out since they're the experts, not MPs.