Voices of Youth: Arrange school talks to spread mental health awareness

Mental illnesses and learning disabilities are, perhaps, among the least understood problems in Singapore.

People with these conditions are frequently looked down upon or scorned instead of getting the support that they need.

When a child is not doing well in school, many, whether teachers or classmates, assume he is lazy or just not hardworking enough.

One way to spread awareness is to arrange assembly talks in schools to talk about these issues.

Schools should also make it known that there is a school counsellor available should anyone need to talk to one.

In my secondary school - and it was the same in my primary school - the majority of the students do not even know that the school has a counsellor.

Eileen Du Yilin, 14

Secondary 3 student

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