Norfolk campaigner: Push for suicide prevention lessons rollout continues
From September, all of England's secondary schools will have to teach lessons on suicide prevention
A local campaigner tells us he'll spent 2026 pushing for suicide prevention lessons rolled to all parts of the UK
Last year Ministers confirmed these lessons would be compulsory in all of England's Secondary schools from September.
"This is about giving them the support they need here"
Thanks to work from Tim Owen of 'Three Dads Walking' who lives in Shouldham:
"Until this change happened in England there was no mention of the 'S-word' in the curriculum at all.
"This isn't about making teachers experts in the topic at all, this is about giving them the support they need here.
"If a young person comes up to them and starts talking about suicidal thoughts that they have, then they know where to sign-post them to.
"Also, if the adults in a young person's life haven't mentioned the 'S-word' and that young person is having those suicidal thoughts, that 1 in 5 of us have at some point in our lives, then they've got nowhere to turn to.
"This is just about giving young people the ability to go, I'm having these thoughts, it's been mentioned to me before about where I need to go and signposting people".