Bereaved Silsden dad hopes to educate school children on mental health
The dad of a teenager who died by suicide is hoping to go into schools to raise more awareness around mental health.
A Silsden dad has said he wants to go into schools and raise awareness around mental health, after his son died by suicide.
Ethan was 19 when he died in 2024, and his dad now wants to see more early intervention - including doing talks inside education settings.
Mike Buckett said: "I struggled really badly with the loss of Ethan, but then I started to look into and do more research onto young people's mental health and realised there's such a massive gap in the sector for young people and getting support."
He went on to say: "We just want to educate kids that they can talk. But it's not just the kids, we are going for parents as well. We're teaching parents on how to ask their kids if they're ok, how to have open and honest conversations."
Meanwhile, the Department for Education said it's strengthened safeguarding guidance for schools and is rolling out mental health support teams to every school by 2029.
Mike said one school in the Bradford District has agreed to let him go visit to deliver a talk. It's something he'd like to see more of across West Yorkshire.
If you've been impacted by suicide you can find help and support at hub of hope.