Make mental health problems an authorised absence in all education institutions

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

Students are allowed 4 mental health days, resetting every term. Individuals with diagnosed mental illnesses or have recently experienced trauma e.g bereavement are eligible for extra days. Parents must inform the institution if underage or teaching staff can authorize on a students' behalf.

Recently, I watched the Ted Talk by Hailey Hardcastle called 'Why Students Should Have Mental Health Days' explaining how Hailey along with a group of other teenagers campaigned for Oregon House Bill 2191 (authorised mental health days off school). Mental health problems in young people increase yearly, especially during the pandemic. Hypothetically, schools could evaluate how often a student is taking mental health days and intervene early rather than risking them slipping through the cracks.

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

There are already provisions in place for absences if a child cannot go to school because of illness or injury, and this would include issues related to mental health. Monitoring student absences is the responsibility of indiviudal schools.

If what you want is for children to have a right to take time off school on days of their choosing, we could accept a petition requesting this, but it would need to be clear exactly what rights you wanted to the Government to give students.

Timeline

3 Jan 2022	Petition opened for signatures
10 Jan 2022	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21

Status Rejected

Rejected 10 Jan 2022

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