Better mental health education 'needed' in NE schools
There are calls for school kids to be taught about mental health sooner, by a South Shields mam who lost her brothers to suicide.
A South Shields mam who lost her brothers to suicide wants better support for stressed out kids.
Lucy Hughes' brothers died within 22 days of each other in 2001, as the latest figures show more than 400 people take their own lives every year in the North East.
The mam of five tells us that her daughter, who was in Year 4 at the time, was one of three kids bereaved by suicide in her class but fellow pupils and even the children affected struggled to understand it.
Lucy now wants children as young as seven to be taught about mental health. She said:
“Children are taught that to be angry and upset or your general negative aspect of behaviour is wrong. But it’s not wrong. It’s part and parcel of being human, it’s how you deal with them.
“We just plodded on, there wasn’t any sort of specific support there. People that had known us all of our lives initially avoided us because they didn’t know what to say.”
She’s speaking out after a ‘Walk of Light’ was held in Gateshead at the weekend. The annual event is organised by the IF U Care Share Foundation, bringing together those bereaved by suicide as well as those who have been at risk of suicide.
You can find more about the walk here:
Find links to help and support here: