It’s taken Marcus Rashford speaking out about free school meals, to highlight the issue of how low on the list of Government priorities the well – being of children is in Society today.
Last year The Government launched their National suicide prevention plan, with commitments from all the relevant Government departments to stop suicides among all groups across society including veterans, prisoners, people in work, university students and so many others.
While all these groups have received in depth attention and commitments, there is only one commitment from the DfE throughout the whole plan to prevent suicides among children. That being to:
‘Explore issues affecting young people which may be impacting their mental health such as body image and other pressures from social media’
Absolutely no mention of bullying and violence including sexual violence, despite the increasing amounts of suicide in schools related to the issue.
We may not have a Marcus Rashford leading our campaign but we have an army of determined families that will not stop until the priorities of politicians and the policies when it comes to children are made to change.