WELLINGTON, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- A new mental-health pilot program with early intervention technology, designed to help students access immediate support, will be piloted in some schools of New Zealand's largest city Auckland.
The technology provides an early warning system to identify students who may require immediate support with a wide range of personal issues and crises, the community organization West Auckland Trusts said on Wednesday.
More than 20,000 students at 30 West Auckland primary and secondary schools will be provided with software that tracks their mental, social and physical well-being for change and allows them to request help from teachers under the 71,000 NZ dollar (43,709 U.S. dollar) initiative, it said, adding the program is hoped to be expanded to include students at all New Zealand schools.
By regularly checking in with students and gathering data on their emotional well-being, the platform enables schools to proactively address any concerns and provide immediate assistance, it said, adding teachers will receive real-time insights from the platform, which can be accessed by students on their devices.
In 2021 and 2022, about 23.6 percent of young people aged 15-24 years experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress, up from 11 percent in 2020, with Maori and Pacific-origin youth groups often more vulnerable, according to New Zealand's Mental Health Foundation.
For children, speaking out can be associated with stigma, and they may be taught to suppress their emotions, said Donna Nee, principal of Henderson North Primary.
Children are growing up in the digital world, so they are very used to this kind of technology, and they use it well, Nee said.
The principal said the technology also helps maintain privacy, so children are going to be able to talk to a teacher without their peers seeing them, because they choose who they want to connect with in the platform.
Andrew Sylvester, Linewize school wellbeing specialist and technology provider, said vulnerable children do not always speak up and identifying them is a major challenge for schools.
Offering teachers and school leaders insights into how a student is feeling can be transformative for their classroom interactions and will help them confidently connect with more students, Sylvester said, adding the technology helps improve academic outcomes, according to feedback from educators.
The technology, which aligns with the World Health Organization framework for mental health and wellbeing, helps children develop the life skills of self-disclosure and self-reflection, Sylvester said. ■