How can educators identify learners at risk of mental health problems?
It is not possible to identify those learners who will develop mental health problems. However, there are some risk factors which might indicate that a learner may develop mental health problems and these are cumulative: ‘If children are exposed to one risk factor, the likelihood of developing a mental health problem is between 1 and 2 per cent, but with four or more risk factors this increases to 20 per cent’ (Atkinson and Hornby, 2002: 7). The Mental Health Foundation (1999) listed the following as risk factors: physical illness, learning disability, difficult temperament, parental conflict, inconsistent parenting, homelessness and socio-economic disadvantage. Understandably, therefore, these factors can affect learning and achievement, because as Greenhalgh (1994: 2) wrote: ‘The realm of feelings, of our subjective experiences, can indeed both facilitate and inhibit growth, development and learning.’
It is therefore vital that if an educator has concerns about the mental welfare of a learner that further assistance is sought. A decline in academic abilities, of deteriorating relationships with peers or an experience of loss, all may alert an educator to a problem. As Long (1999: 6) says: ‘Our aim in school is to offer appropriate and informed support to the pupil – not to act as a therapist.’
