‘Push on Through’: Children’s Perceptions of Mental Health Education, Risk and Resilience in Schools

It is well established that living in poverty increases one’s risk of developing a
mental health problem. The World Health organisation has argued that governments should adopt programmes which protect children from such risks, increasing their chances of experiencing positive mental health. Schools have become a key site of such interventions, with new programmes aimed at promoting ‘resilience’, through which children may maintain or regain mental health during adversity. This paper adopts a governmentality approach to consider the logic and techniques of such programmes with a specific focus on England. An innovative visual methodology was used to focus on child perceptions of mental health interventions in school. Students’ photo representations of mental health were collected and were used to stimulate focus group discussions with 65 young people aged 12-14 across seven schools. Children in focus groups gave preference to their own descriptors of mental health problems over diagnostic labels. ‘Resilience’ was seen to be the key organising concept for mental health interventions in schools. The concept was viewed as narrowly focussed on attitude to and performance in school-work, with individuals being encouraged to ‘push-on-through’ difficulties to achieve success. Children were critical of this approach suggesting several alternatives. These included increased access to independent mental health professionals, safe spaces within schools and mental health education that addressed the social and affective dimensions of mental health difficulties.