Sharing Good Practice
PEER MENTORING AND MENTAL
HEALTH IN MIDDLE EAST SCHOOLS.
By Yvonne Richards
T
he mental health and wellbeing
of pupils in schools is big news
at the moment. Teachers
regularly work with pupils
presenting with mental health issues
including; anxiety, depression, eating
disorders, self-harming behaviours and
panic attacks, with the key contributors
identified as being family problems,
exposure to violence and abuse, exam
stress and social media - however rarely
are teachers given training on how best
to support these pupils.
So, is this something that schools
in the Middle East need to be
concerned about? Put simply, yes.
Poor mental health impacts on pupils’
ability to make friends and, perhaps
of more concern to schools, leads
to a lack of concentration in class
or full participation. Longer term
consequences, show increased risk
behaviours, suicidal thoughts and
substance misuse. We also know
that, whilst less talked about, studies
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indicate that around 16% of pupils in
the Middle East are suffering from
mental health issues, higher than the
global average .
Key actions, which schools should
take to improve their pupils’ mental
health and wellbeing include, raising
awareness of the issues amongst,
both staff and pupils and employing
school-based counsellors (or links to
external counselling). However, raising
awareness of the issues goes hand-in-
hand with the need to put support in
place and many pupils do not want to
talk to a school counsellor about the
things that are troubling them.
Peer mentoring is another string to
add to your bow. It is a youth–focused
solution to addressing low level
mental health and wellbeing issues,
giving young people the opportunity
to talk to another young person and
find solutions together.
Class Time
The young people being mentored
(mentees) benefit from having access
to non-judgmental, age-appropriate
guidance and support. The peer
mentors benefit from the opportunity
to take on a role of responsibility,
enhance their CV and contribute to
their school community and schools
ultimately reap the benefit of having
pupils who are able to thrive.
Peer
mentoring
programmes,
nevertheless, require planning and
support.
• Peer mentors need to be recruited
– selecting the most able or best
behaved pupils isn’t always helpful,
as those who have struggled and
come through it, often have a lot to
offer their peers.
• Peer mentors need to be trained –
in a range of communication skills,
an understanding of boundaries
and safeguarding (eg when do they
need to share concerns with an