New Zealand has been battling issues with youth depression and suicide for the past 20 years. We currently have the highest rate of teen suicide in the developed world. This is a shocking 15.6 per 100,000. Our rate is double America’s, five times the British and eight times worse than the best performing countries, Italy and Portugal. (Unicef Annual Report 2016). We just simply aren’t doing enough to make a change. I strongly believe that lack of education and support concerning suicide in New Zealand high schools is one of the leading causes as to why the youth suicide rate is so high. In addition there is a major gap in the funding towards much needed mental health facilities in New Zealand.
The government strongly advises all New Zealand high schools to shut down all conversations around suicide as an attempt to avoid suicide contagion. In most schools around New Zealand, suicide is purely known as “the S word”. It is ministry policy for schools to say sudden death, never suicide. In the wake of a student suicide, the Ministry of Education trauma team will write a script for the principal, teachers and all the members of staff to read to students. Even if students were to ask questions, the teachers have to stick to the script. The script aims to minimise any discussion around suicide. In no way does it mention why it happens or even how to prevent it, making the grieving process for students and families so much tougher. Out of 235 schools surveyed for the New Zealand Herald “Break the Silence” campaign, the schools had experienced a combined 150 student suicides. One of these schools has lost six students to suicide since 2007.( NZ Herald ‘Break the silence’ 10 Jul, 2017). This clearly silence on suicide is an outdated policy that has shown no improvement over the past 20 years. New Zealand needs to better their suicide education in schools by showing our youth what healthy relationships, self care, sexual health and consent actually look like. Our teachers need to show their students that it’s okay to be different, that there’s nothing wrong with failing and it’s okay to make mistakes. High school in New Zealand is no longer preparing kids for the world and we are just expected to be happy about it.
This year’s New Zealand mental health budget has been described as “giving a starving dog a rubber bone” (NZ Herald Budget 2017: Mental health funding ‘distressing’ 26 May, 2017) and it evidently shows us that mental health is not a priority for the government. $224 million will be invested into mental health services over four years.(Stuff.co.nz May 25 2017) According to YesWeCare.nz campaign coordinator Simon Oosterman, it is falling $300 million short of what is needed to keep services like local mental health and addiction facilities effectively running. This includes New Zealand’s only 24-hour suicide counselling service Lifeline, which receives 15,000 calls per week, and due to the cut in funding it is most likely to close next year. Although statistics show that since 2008 New Zealand has had a 60% increase in demand for these services, the government still cut $5 billion entirely from health care alone (Newshub 31/10/2016). It is obvious that the funding for mental health is nowhere near enough and the way the money is spent is not being as effective as it could be. After 20 years of no change and almost 2000 young people denied mental health services just last year, the New Zealand government needs to set a target to fix the issues around youth suicide.(NZ Herald Budget 2017: Mental health funding ‘distressing’ 26 May, 2017) We need to make sure the small amount of funding allocated to mental health is not wasted on the same services that just aren’t working. More funding needs to be put towards services such as lifeline and the crisis clinic that noticeably make a difference and save lives on the daily. Suicide is now New Zealand’s third highest cause of death close behind heart disease and lung cancer. This should be the wake up call the New Zealand government needs to prioritise mental health.
In contrast, suicide is becoming an increasingly more talked about topic seen in the media of New Zealand. Just recently The New Zealand Herald ran a special series over the course of 5 weeks called “Break The Silence” as they believed that it was time for a national conversation about the matter. The campaign shared personal stories of everyday New Zealanders affected by suicide and depression. It explored the history of why the silence on suicide has been orthodox in New Zealand since the mid-1990s and even discussed some of the different ways this issue has been handled in homes and in classrooms. (Break The Silence: New Herald series 4 July, 2017). The idea to encourage the youth of New Zealand to reach for help, to let them know there is always hope and to provide places of support was great in theory but it did not hit the targeted audience. Another New Zealand news media agency, stuff.co.nz, shows through statistics that out of their 1.9 million frequent readers only 7.4% are between the age bracket of 18-24.(Stuff.co.nz Media Kit March 2016) This was the age bracket for the New Zealand Herald’s target audience for the “Break The Silence” campaign. For The Herald to reach the targeted demographic then they would need to also use the social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that this age bracket uses to advertise their campaign. Although the parents of the youth were more likely to see this campaign it is entirely up to them to pass this information onto their children. Overall the Break The Silence campaign did not work as well as it could have but is a step forward in creating awareness and starting a national conversation.
New Zealand is doing no where near enough as they can to reduce the appalling 15.6 per 100,000 youth suicide rate as we have seen no improvement for the past 20 years. The silence on suicide in schools, the lack of funding towards mental health facilities and even New Zealand news media agencies not getting through to our youth are all major contributing factors to the increasing youth suicide rate. It is definitely time for a drastic change.
– Ryan Curran
Unknown Voice 