It is estimated that one-in-three children in every classroom will have a mental health issue.

Around three quarters of all mental illnesses start before a child reaches their 18th birthday, and children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, or those with parents with existing mental health illnesses themselves, are more likely to develop mental health problems of their own.

Unfortunately, despite these staggering statistics, children and young people with mental health problems in Wales are not receiving the help and support they need.

A recent report, published by the Children, Young People and Education Committee, of which I am a member, found that support for the emotional and mental health of young people in Wales’ schools has been “too limited for too long”.

The report made clear that support for children with mental health and wellbeing problems in Wales’ schools is wholly inadequate and that urgent action is needed to turn things around.

Here in North Wales over 1,000 children and young people are  waiting for a year or longer for a mental health assessment and treatment, this is more than all of the other health boards in Wales combined. This situation is totally unacceptable.  

The Committee publication called for urgent action to embed support for children in schools to build resilience and equip the education workforce to spot problems and help to tackle them.

Psychologists and organisations like the NSPCC have endorsed all twenty seven of the report's recommendations, however, unfortunately  the Welsh Government has only fully accepted seven.

This latest report follows previous ones which have also identified problems when it comes to addressing the mental health needs of our children and young people, but unfortunately we have seen very little action from the Welsh Government to date to deal with the challenges.

There has been good practice on building mental health resilience though in some schools, including Ysgol Pen y Bryn in Colwyn Bay.

It was suggested in the report that their mindfulness programme should be rolled out further in other schools. Research suggests that mindfulness may provide young people with a valuable life skill by supporting them in number of areas: to feel calmer and more fulfilled; to get on better with others; to concentrate and learn; to manage stress and anxiety; to perform well in music and sport.

There is no doubt that our children need a coping mechanism to help them calm their busy minds, self-regulate, and become more hopeful and happy, and mindfulness is certainly proving successful at achieving this, but we need to see it introduced into more of our schools.

For years the emphasis has been on physical health, and while exercise obviously remains crucially important and can actually help lift depression, it is crucial that we pay more attention to the mental health and well-being of our young people.

If we do not help children at the beginning of their mental health problems, we will spend a lifetime picking up the pieces.