Behaviour in schools is often a contested topic. As Edward Timpson noted in his 2019 review of school exclusions, the roots of challenging behaviour have long been debated by experts – at one end there are those who see poor behaviour as either a choice or the inevitable consequence of a lack of boundaries, and at the other there are those who perceive it as the communication of unmet needs. One thing that everyone agrees on, though, is that poor behaviour is a serious problem, that makes everyone’s life difficult and requires a thoughtful and evidenced-based response.
The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition has completed a year-long inquiry into behaviour and mental health in schools. We explored the links between behaviour and mental health, and looked at what can be done to improve both behaviour and mental health in schools. We spoke to hundreds of young people, parents, carers and professionals to understand their views and experiences.
There has been a continuous decline in children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing over recent years. One in six children and young people aged 7 to 16 experienced a mental health problem in 2022, compared to one in nine in 2017. That’s five children in a class of 30. The number of pupils with special educational needs is now close to 1.5 million. And mental health difficulties are among the most common reasons for children having special educational needs. Schools are on the frontline of responding to this rising need.
We found that the underlying drivers of behaviour are much more complex than is sometimes assumed. We heard consistently throughout the course of the research that persistent poor behaviour may be an indication that a child has unmet or undiagnosed need or is struggling to communicate or to regulate themselves. The young people, parents and carers, and professionals who gave evidence to the inquiry also highlighted that a young person’s behaviour is linked to both their mental health and to their special educational needs and disabilities.
