What does a teacher do about a depressed student?
This is sort of a two-parter.
1) If a teacher thinks a student is depressed, do they have to tell the parents or any other teachers? If the student denies being depressed, but it's pretty obvious they are, does the teacher do anything else or just leave it be?
and
2) If a student tells a teacher they are depressed, what would the teacher do differently? In terms of telling people, keeping an eye on them, etc? And if a student told a teacher they were depressed, but hadn't told their parents, would the teacher be obliged to tell the parents?
And do the answers depend on the age of the student?
1) If a teacher thinks a student is depressed, do they have to tell the parents or any other teachers? If the student denies being depressed, but it's pretty obvious they are, does the teacher do anything else or just leave it be?
and
2) If a student tells a teacher they are depressed, what would the teacher do differently? In terms of telling people, keeping an eye on them, etc? And if a student told a teacher they were depressed, but hadn't told their parents, would the teacher be obliged to tell the parents?
And do the answers depend on the age of the student?
Original post by schoolgirl1997
This is sort of a two-parter.
1) If a teacher thinks a student is depressed, do they have to tell the parents or any other teachers? If the student denies being depressed, but it's pretty obvious they are, does the teacher do anything else or just leave it be?
and
2) If a student tells a teacher they are depressed, what would the teacher do differently? In terms of telling people, keeping an eye on them, etc? And if a student told a teacher they were depressed, but hadn't told their parents, would the teacher be obliged to tell the parents?
And do the answers depend on the age of the student?
1) If a teacher thinks a student is depressed, do they have to tell the parents or any other teachers? If the student denies being depressed, but it's pretty obvious they are, does the teacher do anything else or just leave it be?
and
2) If a student tells a teacher they are depressed, what would the teacher do differently? In terms of telling people, keeping an eye on them, etc? And if a student told a teacher they were depressed, but hadn't told their parents, would the teacher be obliged to tell the parents?
And do the answers depend on the age of the student?
Jen got most of it. Although most do try to help even if it is just being there as someone to talk to.
Original post by Jenx301
Depends on the age of the student, whether they are harming themselves, if they are thinking of suicide, the schools individual policies, safeguarding procedure etc.
With 2, I would assume it varies on what the student wants as typically they would ask what they want them to do about it.
Original post by schoolgirl1997
This is sort of a two-parter.
1) If a teacher thinks a student is depressed, do they have to tell the parents or any other teachers? If the student denies being depressed, but it's pretty obvious they are, does the teacher do anything else or just leave it be?
and
2) If a student tells a teacher they are depressed, what would the teacher do differently? In terms of telling people, keeping an eye on them, etc? And if a student told a teacher they were depressed, but hadn't told their parents, would the teacher be obliged to tell the parents?
And do the answers depend on the age of the student?
1) If a teacher thinks a student is depressed, do they have to tell the parents or any other teachers? If the student denies being depressed, but it's pretty obvious they are, does the teacher do anything else or just leave it be?
and
2) If a student tells a teacher they are depressed, what would the teacher do differently? In terms of telling people, keeping an eye on them, etc? And if a student told a teacher they were depressed, but hadn't told their parents, would the teacher be obliged to tell the parents?
And do the answers depend on the age of the student?
probably depends a bit on the teacher, from my experience some want to deal with this aspect of the job and some don't... I think generally they would be required to report their concerns to a designated person but this might be as far as it goes if the person denied being depressed (concern would then be kept so that if, say, 5 teachers raised it they would have evidence that it was ongoing), whether or not it was then passed to parents would depend on the situation i.e. any concerns the person is at risk and it would have to go to parents, if the school felt that it was not in the students interests (e.g. parents had a reputation for being difficult or unsupportive) they might not pass it on if they could avoid it
in terms of teacher support, there is usually a pastoral system within the school which you should enter into, who and what this consists of varies by school, most teachers would keep an eye on that student and let them come and have a chat if they needed to (within certain boundaries as they aren't trained counsellors), they would need to tell someone in charge of safeguarding/pastoral care but it wouldn't be passed on to all staff without your agreement
