'I have had students as young as grade two telling me they wanted to die': Principals sound alarm on children's mental health
School children as young as five are self-harming, exhibiting significant behavioral issues and suffering anxiety and primary school principals say they are struggling to respond.
Principals are urging the state government to expand mental health workers to primary schools and increase access to welfare officers.Ms Kliman warned that it was too late to wait until children reached secondary school to treat them and there needed to be a greater focus on early prevention in primary schools.
“These students have highly aspirational parents who are heavily involved in their children's education and there is quite a lot of pressure on them,” he said.“I have seen self-harming in children as young as prep, grade one and two," he said. He said his previous primary welfare officer worked three days a week helping children deal with trauma, financial hardship and family breakdowns.It is estimated that one in seven Victorians between four and 17 has a mental health issue.Mr Merlino said the government was delivering and expanding welfare and mental health support services in primary and secondary schools. "This includes additional psychologists, social workers, and more primary school nurses," he said.
“They are falling a year behind their peers in their ability to perform academically if they are not doing well mentally or psychologically,” she said. “Our ethos is all about starting earlier because by the time they reach secondary school, a lot of this is embedded and it's harder to bounce back from,” Ms Harman said.
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