Statement by Julie Lynn-Evans, child psychotherapist, adviser to CATS
“It is well documented and statistically proven that the mental health of our children is an area of real concern. Covid-19 and lock down did them no favours. Continuous use of computers (by adults and children) has left them bereft of good communication skill. Poverty, hardship or two hard working parents have left them short of time with good role models, laughter, and fun. Childhood is tough in this decade.
In reports from the Banbury area the wish and need for better access to child mental health and an end to child on child bullying is presented as a priority. But we cannot provide it. The average wait for a CAHMS appointment is over a year, with a two year wait for a child or adolescent psychiatrist. We are not able to help our children until it is arguably too late. It would be far better if we were to help them before they began to get into trouble.
CATS aims to do just that. A child needs to be well fed and warm. A child needs good attachment figures. And after that a child needs to learn who he or she is. The best, most effective and proven way to allow a young person to become who they are meant to be is to allow them to explore, experience, play, experiment, think and fail. With music, drama, painting, creative writing, debating and any creative endeavour, a child will be fed with the best that humanity has to offer. Of course, they need sport and of course they need the discipline of the academic curriculum, but they will not get the best out of either if they are not happy within themselves. And they will not be if they have nowhere to turn with their enquiries, if they have nowhere to escape from their hardships or if they have no sensory experience apart from their screens where comparisons are odious, and the world is often cruel. They will turn in on themselves with inadequate maturity to get out of the darkness.
Art, music and drama, in all its wonder, can be an answer. It provides companionship, community, goals, success, resilience, teamwork, leadership, fun, laughter, challenge, and connection. It provides the antidote to the pale, sad faces and for the young people with nothing to do and nowhere to go. Instead of the drudgery of hopelessness, the hands-on experience of the different branches of the arts provide hope. And hope is the greatest medicine with which to battle the very real horrors of mental illness.
Cotswolds Arts through Schools hopes to offer all primary schools in the area the opportunity to develop each child’s creative potential. In the last two years the pilot schemes run by partners have demonstrated the importance of the work and the desperate need for it amongst children and schools.
All these activities are pulling together diverse communities without costing either the parents or the government. The children love it. The teachers are delighted. And we are watching our young people get what they need at the beginning of their journey rather than wringing our hands when it is time for an unavailable appointment at a mental health hospital.”
Julie is a Psychotherapist specialising in working with children and families. She is author of ‘What About The Children’ (the effect on children of separation and divorce) and Consultant to schools and families throughout the UK.