Ask yourself about mental health
The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale is one of the many scales that show that mental health has been declining in children and adolescents. This effect has been worsened by the pandemic, where 55% of students reported their mental health was worse compared to before the pandemic. Due to the high socio-economic inequality in Scotland, schemes such as the Scotland’s Mental Health Strategy (2017 – 2027) or the ‘Going to Be’ SAMH’s campaign are not working. Scotland’s youth’s declining mental health is not only a problem for the University and its future students, but it is also a severely stigmatized problem for the country. Mental wellbeing needs to be a priority in the school curriculum to be able to defeat this stigmatization.
A novel yet feasible opportunity for change is the creation of a scheme whereby students come together to create projects that highlight what mental health is, it’s importance to and what students personally feel their community could do. This would be led by trained volunteers within the scheme. Inter-school assemblies would be held to showcase student projects (presentations, posters, videos etc.) where staff can have first-hand information of what students need. This is a unique opportunity for students that involves interdisciplinary techniques such as collaboration, creative thinking and problem solving which are universal skills that can be used in students’ futures. The university could provide funding, along with other universities for the training of volunteers (which can be students) as well as the organization of inter-school assemblies.