Did you know that 10% of young people are suffering from a diagnosable mental health disorder today? Not only does this mean that a vast number of young people are unhappy, but also that they are underperforming at school, college and in the early stages of their careers.
Dick Moore, a former English teacher, rugby coach and Headmaster visited Bradford Grammar School (BGS) to give talks to parents, pupils and staff of BGS about mental health and the emotional wellbeing of adolescents, as he sees a growing need for society to provide young people with more emotional support.
Since November 2012 he has been visiting schools, universities and organisations to help raise awareness of these issues, after the suicide of his 21 year old son Barney led him to call for urgent action to protect adolescents with mental health problems.
He began his visit with a training session for teaching staff ‘Helping the tick’, which explained the neuroscience behind a teenage brain and looked at common problems and mental health disorders faced by young people today. The second talk in the evening, to over 170 parents, ‘Coping with your adolescent’, looked at this from a parent’s perspective and offered advice for those who may need support and further understanding.
The following day Dick spoke to over 200 BGS Sixth Form students on ‘Dancing or drowning in the rain’ (also available on TEDTalk) where he spoke about his personal experience of losing his son to suicide and signs and symptoms of common mental health disorders so that young people know that, put simply – they are not alone.
The strategies and advice he offered about how to deal with the symptoms and get further advice were instrumental in raising awareness to both pupils and parents alike. Jane Chapman, Pastoral Director for the school said:
“We were delighted to welcome Dick to BGS, and his visit has been a great success with overwhelmingly positive feedback from staff, parents and students. He is a compelling speaker with a wealth of experience and wisdom drawn from his professional and personal life.
His tremendous passion for promoting the emotional wellbeing of young people and educating schools and parents in how to support them when things get tough is simply invaluable. We look forward to Dick coming back later in the year for further staff training and delivery to some of our younger pupils.”
As a Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor and Associate Trainer for the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust, Dick was extremely pleased with his visit:
“I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to BGS and was very impressed by the school’s determination to develop an appropriate response to the growing epidemic of mental ill-health amongst young people throughout the country. I was especially impressed by the BGS Sixth Formers who were both focused and mature but above all articulate and emotionally honest in their questions. I hope they’ll have me back!”
Watch the full ‘Coping with your adolescent’ video on YouTube.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to BGS and was very impressed by the school’s determination to develop an appropriate response to the growing epidemic of mental ill-health amongst young people throughout the country. I was especially impressed by the BGS Sixth Formers who were both focused and mature but above all articulate and emotionally honest in their questions. I hope they’ll have me back!”
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