NPTA: More needed to help students

Ramatali said the issue of students being on suicide watch is a very serious one and last year, the NPTA started a conversation on mental health and trauma in children at its parent conference.

“If children have mental health issues that are not addressed and warning signs are not picked up early, obviously it could result in students being on suicide watch and we have to look at the level of stress we place children under. The anxiety factor is something we have to look at,” Ramatali said.

“The irritability and angriness in children we are seeing manifesting in a lot of fighting in schools. All these videos being posted on social media where young people are fighting. The warning signs we need to look at, the anxiety in children, loss of appetite you name it. Teachers and other support staff ought to be trained to look for these signs so students can be referred for help.” Ramatali said that in densely populated government schools, two or three social workers and guidance officers are needed per school to deal with the volume of work. She said teachers also need to be trained properly to deal with the situation.

“We need parent education and we need more guidance and social workers in our school system. We need a clinic or somewhere within the hospitals designated to deal with children who have mental issues before we lose our young to suicide. We need to have teachers who are more understanding and more caring and who will understand what children are facing on a daily basis.” Ramatali said children who are experiencing mental health issues come from homes where they are being abused and/or are surrogate parents to younger siblings.

“They have so many issues to face as young children that sometimes they cannot cope. Then the pressure to perform at a certain level in the school system may be too much. We must help our young children,” Ramatali said.