Students’ mental health ‘critical’
Local school boards say provincial cash commitment to support young people ‘very exciting’
There are still details to examine but the Ontario government’s commitment to emphasizing mental health and wellness within the education system is a good step forward, say Niagara school boards, experts and community partners.
Not only will it address mentalhealth issues exacerbated by the pandemic but will bring awareness to the classroom with a goal of building resiliency to ensure young people grow into healthy adults.
Andrea Bozza, mental-health lead for Niagara Catholic District School Board, said curriculum changes and additional investment is “excellent” news.
“It’s so critical that students learn those healthy coping strategies, stress management skills, helping seeking behaviours,” she said. “It’s very exciting. We’re in a time where, obviously, we’re happy to have the funding but how we implement that funding is going to be the key.”
Last week, Queen’s Park announced new curriculum for elementary and high school students beginning in 2024. It includes updates to the required Grade 10 career studies course, as well as mandatory resources for teachers and students on mental-health literacy for grades 7 and 8.
Students in career studies will learn about signs of distress and mental-health resources, and elementary curriculum will include additional activities, videos and information to learn about managing stress, recognizing symptoms and finding support.
While not completely new — in 2019 the province added mentalhealth and wellness expectations into Grade 7 and 8 physical education and health curriculum — Bozza said it is about mental-health promotion and awareness.
“We are happy about that because it really does ensure that we’ll be getting research-focused, identity-affirming resources implemented in our schools and it’ll be consistent,” said Bozza.
The rollout itself is unclear, but expectations are training will start with board mental-health leads, who will bring it to school leadership teams.
“We have the support in place already. The hope is that we can grow our team with additional support, that would be fantastic, but it’s also really to maintain and sustain the team that we have right now with this permanent funding to ensure that they can continue their work with our students,” she said.
While it is a positive start, more needs to be done, said Michael Savage, associate professor in the department of education studies at Brock University.
Grade 10 is a good spot to introduce serious mental-health issues, as that is the age when symptoms can start presenting themselves. That part of mental-health literacy is “very, very important” to make sure symptoms are understood, recognized and know where to get help, he said.
But Savage also would have liked to see an infusion of mental-health and wellness education through the entire school curriculum, in developmentally appropriate ways, to create “habits of wellness in students.”
“Anxiety isn’t a bad word. If you don’t deal with anxiety or you are overly anxious and it prevents you from doing things or interferes with things (but) a little bit of anxiety is actually good,” he said.
He has questions about how the curriculum will be implemented and the support that teachers, some of whom are struggling with their own mental health, will receive from the province and school boards. Savage would like to see an investment in teacher training, both for those on the job and in teacher training programs.
The government also announced it will give school boards funding to provide psychological and mentalhealth services over summer months.
Savage said that is a welcome step, leading to a continuity of care, but it does not address inequities at school boards, with about one in 10 schools in Ontario not having access to a regularly scheduled mental-health professional.
“More rural areas or racialized areas, more refugees areas, have less supports in the school already. If you don’t have them already there, providing them in the summer isn’t going to help because they’re not there to begin with,” he said.
Niagara Catholic uses a referral-based model with nine regulated mental-health professionals serving its eight secondary schools and 50 elementary schools, along with 25 child and youth workers. It also works with mental-health nurses through a community partnership.
District School Board of Niagara said it is receiving just more than $2.1 million for mental health and well-being. Communications officer Carolyn LoConte said every public school has access to regularly scheduled mental-health professionals, such as a social worker or youth counsellor.
“These staff are either assigned to support certain schools or are consistently on-site,” she said in an email. “We believe that ongoing work in mental health and wellbeing is vital and helps ensure that students feel safe, connected and emotionally-regulated so they are empowered to focus on their learning.”
Alisa Simon, executive vice-president and chief youth officer at Kids Help Phone, said since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the service has supported young people across the country more than 14 million times. The investments from the province to further mental health resources “is important, necessary and welcome.”
“Investments in high school enables ongoing awareness and conversations with young people about mental health, meeting them where they are as they experience change and the world around them,” said Simon. “Youth tell us every day they need caring adults, especially at school, to help give their feelings a place to go.”