A set of free videos introducing the issue of mental health to primary school has been released by BBC Learning.
The series, entitled “When I worry about things” animates the voices of children talking about their own struggles and experiences. It looks at ways to help children deal with a range of mental health issues such as depression, OCD, eating disorders and also addresses bullying. The videos, aimed at children aged eight and upwards, are available via BBC Teach.
BBC Teach’s executive producer Andrew Tomlinson said: “This collection has been created with guidance from clinical psychologists and is designed to support teachers in introducing a potentially challenging subject.
“The idea with this series was to offer a solution by starting the discussion on behalf of the audience, therefore lifting the stigma surrounding them and acting as a tentpole around which issues and solutions could be discussed easily and openly.”
More than ever, schools are experiencing the difficulties of mental health problems – to children, their parents and also to staff. The issue is a particular problem within the North East, in Tyne and Wear alone an average of 15 teenagers a week were admitted to hospital for self-harm during the 2014-15 financial year.