A counsellor in every school would be a start!

This is a guest blog from Dizzy Bee: So this is what I say to all the feckers bleeting on about the mental wellbeing of kids and how schools, government and unions have let them down:

The mental health of our children and the concerns for many of our children living lives in abject poverty and in abusive or neglectful households, is not the responsibility of schools and teachers. Teachers, support staff etc are a welcome respite to all this, but ultimately it’s not their job to deal with these particular issues. 

Of course, all the above are extremely important and need urgent attention. And if the government cared that much they would fund schools properly, there would be counsellors on site, there would be space and places in schools staffed by trained professionals, there would be places and spaces to feed and clothe them, there would be an emergency sanctuary and safe place for women fleeing violence, there would be dedicated professionals running workshops for young dads, old dads, mothers returning to work etc etc etc. 

Cuts, cuts cuts, cuts, mean that there is a limited support network for families that live in poverty, a poverty created by an unjust capitalist system that has marginalised so many people they don't even care why or how they are there. or if (and of course there are many) they do there is nowhere to go, no one to turn to... Universal credit? Laughable. 

What schools have become is a space for some children who live in these awful situations, and I don't know one teacher who does not care. But they (we) are teachers, educators and support staff. we are not social workers, psychologists or family support workers. They exist but they are few and far between. well in a school setting anyway, as a permanent fixture. even a school nurse has gone (the nit nurse we called mine!). A handful of family support workers stretch over many schools.

So please STOP claiming you care about the welfare of our children’s mental health until you properly invest in it. And stop piling expectation after expectation on to teachers and non-teaching staff to cover the role of all the above. They do it anyway and that should be just a bonus to the children, the hard-working dedication of teachers and support staff, not actually in the job description and not necessarily taught at teacher school [PGCE]!