CYP Now - Teachers lack confidence to help pupils who self-harm, study finds

More than eight out of 10 secondary school teachers say they have taught a pupil who they believe self-harms but many lack the confidence and training to support them, a charity survey has found.

The survey of 3,200 secondary school teachers by YoungMinds found that 84 per cent have taught a child suspected of self-harming.

However, around only a third feel confident in their ability to support young people with mental health issues such as self-harming, while a similar proportion admitted they lack confidence to help.

Only 39 per cent say they know how and when to refer young people to child and adolescent mental health services, with 37 per cent admitting they lack confidence to alert specialists.

A lack of training has emerged as a key barrier to teachers providing help - 77 per cent told the charity they have not had sufficient training on children's mental health.

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