Kemi Badenoch agrees with Kidderminster family on importance of young people's mental health

Note: This article features discussion about suicide, and has links to support at the end

The leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has told us she agrees with a Worcestershire family that a focus needs to be on preventing mental health issues developing in young people on top of the help being made available for them.

Kidderminster's Rob and Lisa Collins' 16-year-old son Mitch took his own life seven years ago in 2019 and since then they've set-up a petition in his name calling for Mitch's Law to be introduced.

The husband and wife say the legislation would look to ensure funding is in place through a cross political party commitment so that mental health counsellors can be put in any educational setting and work on providing early intervention and better support.

'No parent should have to bury their child'

Speaking to us at a recent event in the West Midlands after hearing about what the pair are pushing for, leader of the Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch said: "I was really sad to read the story of Mitch Collins, no parent should have to bury their child.

“I believe that we need to look at how to prevent the mental health issues from coming up in the first place rather than just trying to cure them, that’s one of the reasons why we want to see a ban on social media for under 16’s.

“I do think we need support for schools, we do need support in place, but the best thing would be to make sure that our children have strong mental health in the first place by removing the things that are causing the problems, and one of those things I’m afraid is social media.”

Following a government consultation on children's social media use which ended last month, the Prime Minister is said to be preparing to announce the next steps on his plans to protect them from harmful content online.

In response to the calls from Rob and Lisa Collins, a government spokesperson said previously: "No parent should have to fear for their child's mental health, which is why this government is committed to expanding mental health support services closer to where young people live and learn.

"We are accelerating the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges, expanding community‑based support via Early Support and Young Futures Hubs, and strengthening neighbourhood health services so children and families get the right help, earlier.

"Alongside this, we have also delivered on our promise to recruit 8,500 more mental health workers across children and adult services, three years ahead of schedule."

Rob and Lisa 'won't stop' their calls

Rob, alongside Lisa and their older son, has recently completed a near 130-mile journey from where Mitch's memorial bench is at in Wolverley Secondary School, all the way to Downing Street in London to highlight the petition, which is on just under 14,000 signatures at the time of writing.

A total of 100,000 is needed to put it in a position where a debate in parliament could then take place and they've vowed to keep pushing with their calls.

Following the response from the Conservative leader, both said they were pleased Mitch's story and theirs calls for the legislation in his name had been read, and they would be willing to meet and talk to leaders of political parties about it further.

On the points Badenoch and the government have made on social media usage for children, Lisa said: “Restrictions on social media would help greatly.

"It isn't only the social media side though that puts kids in a dark place, their home life can put them in a dark place, bullying, being at school, because some of them just can't cope.

"So the social media side is just the tip of the iceberg really."

Rob added: "Social media can have an adverse effect greatly on our young people.

"Their resilience isn't always tough enough to take on the dark side of the internet where people can comment without showing any identification when they do comment, so quite a dark place for some people."

They're planning to return to Downing Street at sometime in the future hand in their petition.

Support

Samartians run a service all day, 365 days a year, which can be contacted on 116 123 or by visiting their website to find the nearest branch.

If you're looking for mental health support services near you, then you can find them across the UK using the Hub of Hope.

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