Last week, we told you about the new SAFEMinds Program in Victoria which will see Headspace working with Victorian teachers to help identify students suffering mental health issues. We asked you to tell us whether teaching staff at your school received mental health training.  It is with some concern that we report that 95% of respondents to that poll stated that teaching staff did not receive mental health training.

This figures is alarming, particularly as the rate of mental health issues is on the rise. A recent report featured in the Sydney Morning Herald stated that 40% of calls and emails to the Kids Helpline go unanswered. The Kids Helpline is a national hotline set up for the purpose of assisting young people who are struggling with mental health issues including suicidal thoughts and thoughts of self-harm. According to the Sydney Morning Herald report, the Helpline received 700,000 requests for help in 2013.

Ramesh Manocha, a Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at the University of Sydney told the Sydney Morning Herald that the combination of a shortage of school counsellors and increasing stress and social pressure on children is contributing to the alarming rise in calls and that 'mental health support in schools is woefully inadequate'. The plight of mentally distressed children has also moved the National Children's Commission to hold an inquiry into intentional self-harm and suicidal behaviour in children.

The need for schools to be alive to student mental health issues is part of a school's duty of care. Just as teachers need to be trained to recognise and respond to the needs of students who have life-threatening allergies, they also need to be trained to recognise mental health issues so that they can help their students seek appropriate treatment and assistance.

Typically, community health services such as Kids Helpline deal with children for the first time once their mental health issues have reached an advanced stage. This raises some serious questions. What happens to those children whose calls aren't answered?  Are the support systems being provided by schools adequate?

Although there are some national programs available to secondary school children such as MindMatters, merely having these programs is not enough if so many children are relying on Kids Helpline for help.

Lifeline 13 11 13

Kid's Helpline 1800 55 1800