Vilde Kristine Teinmo and Vilde Ringen live in a valley with 18,000 inhabitants spread over six municipalities. As news recently wrote, 27 people have committed suicide there in the last seven years. – We have lost many people we know to suicide, says Vilde Kristine. The girls are afraid that the gloomy statistics will continue. Therefore, they want it to become a separate subject in school. Have lost many Vilde Kristine and Vilde have been open about the fact that they too have suffered psychologically. Among other things, they have written various texts that have been published in the local newspapers Avisa Valdres and OA. Both about mental health and suicide. – We did it for ourselves. It is a way of getting things out that we have experienced, says Vilde, who has struggled with suicidal thoughts herself. The texts have done something in the local community. Both young people and parents have made contact with the girls. DID NOT SPEAK: Vilde Ringen has struggled mentally, but was unable to talk about it. Now he hopes mental health as a subject at school can help others in the same situation. Photo: Mette Vollan / news Young people have reported that the texts have helped. Seeing others struggle has contributed to them seeking help. Those who make contact have not known how to put into words what they know. Or what kind of help is available. Want it on the timetable Most of those who have taken their own lives in Valdres are men. Nine of them were in their late teens or 20s. – The more you know about mental health, the easier it is to understand your feelings. Nobody tells you that. You have to find that out yourself, says Vilde. Every week throughout primary and secondary school, Vilde Kristine and Vilde have had gym sessions to improve their physical health. – Where are the two hours a week to improve mental health, asks Vilde Kristine. She struggled with eating disorders for many years before she got help. MANY YEARS WITHOUT HELP: Vilde Kristine Teinmo lived with eating disorders for several years before she found out that she could get help. Photo: Mette Vollan / news If mental health had been a separate subject, the girls believe they would have known more about what the feelings they had inside were. At school, they have experienced that mental health only comes up as a topic in a lecture once a year. – Wouldn’t it be strange if there was only one gym class a year, they ask. Called for several years Mental Health young people called for mental health as a separate subject in school as early as 2014. In 2020, the government launched life mastery which was to be integrated into the curriculum. Mental health is not a separate subject, but must be included as part of several subjects. Adrian Lorentsson is head of communications at Mental Health Youth. He says the highest threshold is asking for help. Lorentsson points out that half of those who commit suicide do not have a diagnosis. NOT GOOD ENOUGH: Head of Communications at Mental Health Youth, Adrian Lorentsson, calls for more focus on mental health in teacher education. Here he is at the teacher training course in Hamar. Photo: Anne Kari Løberg / news – Isn’t it better that it is woven into, for example, social studies or KRLE, to make it more natural than mental health being on the timetable? – I think it can be talked about in many different subjects, but I don’t think it’s enough, says Lorentsson. He points out that suicide among young people is not decreasing, but that it may appear to be increasing. Should mental health become a separate subject in school? The teachers don’t know enough Professor emeritus in children and young people’s mental health at the University of Tromsø, believes that mental health belongs at school. He believes openness about children’s feelings is good. – One should start with it in the nursery and at home under natural conditions, he believes. DOESN’T WORK: Psychologist and professor Willy-Tore Mørch believes that coping with life at school is not the way to go. Photo: Eirik Hind Sveen / news But he does not think life mastery, which is now part of the curriculum, contributes to that. Mørch believes that a curriculum has not been set up that tells anything about subject matter, goals and teaching materials. He is not sure that mental health should be included as a separate subject, but calls for more knowledge in school. – We have thought, and think, that teachers should have the competence to handle this in the classroom as an important part of class management, he says. Need someone to talk to? If you need someone to talk to, you can use one of these low-threshold services: Church SOS: Call 22 40 00 40, or write to soschat.no or meldinger.kirkens-sos.no The Red Cross’s service Cross on the neck is for you under 18 years. Telephone: 800 333 21. Write or chat on the website korspaahalsen.rodekors.no Mental Health Helpline: Call 116 123 or write to sidetmedord.no Parental support: Call 116 123 (key 2) Student telephone: Call 116 123 (key 3) Mental Health Youth . Aimed at young adults aged 18-36. Online chat service Monday to Friday from 18.00-21.00: www.mhu.no. The emergency telephone for children and young people. A free phone for children and young people who are exposed to violence, abuse and neglect. Telephone 116 111. Acute risk of suicide? Call 113 when it is urgent and your life is at stake. Call the emergency room on tel. 116117 for immediate assistance. You can also talk to your GP. Bigger challenge for teachers Head of the Norwegian Education Association in Innlandet Thore Johan Nærbøe says teachers face a wider set of challenges with the student group now than they did in the past. NOT AN OWN SUBJECT: The Norwegian Education Association’s leader in Inland Thore Johan Nærbøe is skeptical about introducing mental health as an independent subject. Photo: Frode Meskau / news How mastery of life is woven into the various subjects is solved in many different ways. Some schools have their own theme weeks, while others always focus on what it means to manage one’s own life. – In and of itself, teachers have been doing this for a long time, without us calling it life mastery, says Nærbøe. He says that the student organization says that there has been more focus on the subject in schools. The student teachers give feedback that they learn to give the pupils a wide toolbox, so that you have help when different situations arise. The challenge is that the topic is narrowed down to focus on individual elements. In that case, the Education Association believes that a different type of competence is required. Not applicable now It is unlikely that the wishes of the girls in Valdres will be realized any time soon. School policy spokeswoman for the Labor Party in the Storting, Elise Waagen, says it is not relevant right now. She agrees with Adrian Lorentsson in Mental Health Youth that it is important that children and young people have the tools they need to master life. ADVANTAGE OF BEING INTRA-DISCIPLINARY: School policy spokeswoman for Labor in the Storting Elise Waagen believes in getting mastery of life into several subjects. Photo: Bernt Sønvisen / Arbeiderpartiet – That is the main reason why life skills and public health were introduced as an interdisciplinary topic in the curricula, she says. Waagen believes it is an advantage that mental health is woven into different subjects. Since it has just been introduced into the curriculum, she thinks it should be tried for a while.
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Young people want mental health as a separate subject at school – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
