Self-care is becoming the main focal point of many mental health strategies and policies in schools, and beyond, touted as a panacea for our young people’s emotional health and wellbeing. And there is no doubt that, for a fair percentage of them, it is most certainly beneficial.

My Guidance colleagues and I have been right there, eulogising the concept in PSE classes, showing the latest belly breathing video on youtube, teaching exam focused seniors that a little stress is okay, but too much is problematic. Journaling, colouring ourselves calm and brain dumping. Working with individuals pastorally – directing them to mental health websites, encouraging them to download apps on their smartphones, persuading them to give mindful doodling a crack.

But is this really such a good thing?

Is putting self-care front and centre just applying a sticking plaster (or rather getting them to apply their own) which merely serves to divert attention from the real issues?

Just as the self-esteem boom of the 1980s and 1990s lead to it being hailed as the solution to any number of issues and problems (I can vividly remember passing a conch round a circle, forcing youngsters to say one nice thing about someone they normally regarded with indifference, or worse), so we are in danger of doing the same with self-care. Instead of being one piece of our wellbeing armour, self-esteem became seen as a cure-all. If it worked with one section of society, or group of individuals, it must work for everyone. And working on the self-esteem of our students moved from being a positive activity, to a way of reinforcing the belief in ‘fixing yourself’.

A cynic might suggest that the minimal cost implications of focusing on self-esteem as a cure for any number of ills (in education and beyond the school gates), certainly in comparison to proper investment in services, played a major part in the direction of travel. Another cynic may add that fixating on the power of self-esteem distracted, certainly in the States, from key societal issues, and areas in which real change was needed. Where a seismic shift in understanding of, and attitudes towards, various sections of society and communities was really needed. All of which would have had much more of a cost implication.

They could even finish by pointing out that the result of a lack of proper investment in mental health services and wellbeing support is best exemplified by the current state of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in this country.

So let’s not allow ourselves to take the straightforward option of simply putting the onus back on the self in all of this. The idea that it is your problem, so you need to fix it and here’s how. And if it doesn’t work? Well, maybe you weren’t really open to it in the first place. Or maybe you need to try this strategy instead?

There is no doubt that the Third Sector are doing incredible things for our young people, both in and out of our schools. Without their hard work and support, we would be in a much worse position than we are. And we have a committed teaching community, with staff who do put the wellbeing of their young people before everything else. Gone are the days (for the most part) of the subject being the number one priority for a class teacher, rather than the individual sitting in their classroom. We also have wonderful students, getting involved in volunteering, collecting for foodbanks and promoting kindness. They see helping others as a key part of their educational experience, a way of giving back to their community.

There is much good work being done. This is all being done in trying times, in light of educational reform and with a pandemic as a backdrop. At its core, the principles of self-care are laudable. But it is not a replacement for the investment needed to address the ‘mental health epidemic’. Investment both financial, and societal.

These issues should shape the continuing improvement agenda and form the basis of effective professional learning.