Mental Health Issues of School-Going Adolescents in High Schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

The study sought to describe and explore the experiences of school teachers and school health nurses in dealing with mental health issues of school-going adolescents in high schools. A qualitative descriptive exploratory design was used to gain an integrated view of the experiences of these school teachers and school health nurses. Semi-structured individual interviews and two focus group discussions were held with teachers and school health nurses, respectively, until data saturation was achieved. Preliminary analysis ran concurrently with data collection and was finalised using the directed content analysis method. Mental health issues to emerge were inappropriate handling of emotions by adolescents, engaging in risky behaviours and disruptive behaviours by adolescents. The conclusion reached is that there is a clear need for interventions and programmes that would promote social skills among school-going adolescents.

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On the Fault Line: A Qualitative Exploration of High School Teachers’ Involvement with Student Mental Health Issues

School Mental Health ◽

10.1007/s12310-013-9113-5 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 184-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Kate L. Phillippo ◽

Michael S. Kelly

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

High School ◽

High School Teachers ◽

Health Issues ◽

Fault Line ◽

School Teachers ◽

Student Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Issues ◽

Qualitative Exploration

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Paediatric mental health training to school teachers in London, UK

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2017.01.2091 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 41 (S1) ◽

pp. S181-S181

Author(s):

K. Nijabat

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Young People ◽

Communication Disorders ◽

Mental Health Training ◽

Health Issues ◽

School Teachers ◽

Health Training ◽

Mental Health Issues ◽

National Foundation ◽

Competing Interest

IntroductionThe British National Foundation for Educational Research poll found that two thirds of school teachers feel they lack the appropriate training to help identify mental health issues in pupils.1 National Foundation for Education Research, http://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/DFE-June2015.I contacted 10 schools in London and teachers gave similar responses to the above poll, stating teachers did not feel confident identifying or managing common mental health issues in children and adolescents aged 5–18.AimTo deliver mental health training in a user friendly way to teachers and enable them to identify common mental health issues in young people.ObjectivesAddress underlying concerns teachers have regarding pupils mental health. Discuss strategies to manage common mental health issues.MethodI delivered a 2-hour training workshop to 25 teachers in two different schools in London, June 2016. The training included a lecture on emotional/behavioural and communication disorders in children. There was interactive discussion with teachers, discussing various scenarios, such as children becoming tearful, showing limited eye contact and displaying aggressive behaviour. We discussed how teachers were dealing with this and how better they could manage the situation.ResultsI got excellent feedback from teachers, 100% of teachers found the training very useful and would like to have more training of this kind in the future. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to improve the management of mental health in young people.ConclusionsThere is a gap in the knowledge teachers have on mental health within the young people and the stigma of mental health makes it more difficult for teachers to address these issues.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.

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