'I was trapped in a cycle and had no choice': School mental health provision: casting a spurious veil over the real issues

Governmental agendas to improve the emotional wellbeing of our children and young people (CYP) by providing more mental health support in education have gained more attention in recent years. This renewed focus comes in the aftermath of Covid-19 and is couched heavily in repairing the mental health fallout from the pandemic. Whilst these initiatives are welcome and long overdue, the mental health of CYP has been worsening for decades; post-pandemic school refusal is at an all-time high, and governmental initiatives to ameliorate this are at best tokenistic, and at worst cast a spurious veil over what might really be affecting the mental health of our CYP. The post-pandemic spotlight being shone on CYP absenteeism from education highlights learning losses as the burgeoning issue to be solved. This spotlight obscures what could be deemed larger looming issues, such as the structural problems of an underfunded, high-stakes, exam-focused, rigid system where holistic care of young people is trumped by neoliberal competition. To turn away from considering these as contributing factors to the decline in our CYP's mental health is misguided. This article critically considers these arguments with data from a recent co-designed study involving 16–20-year-old students at an English FE college. It foregrounds the voice of a young person, in keeping with the view that if the education system is to work for children and young people, we need to listen to what is not currently working for them and act accordingly.