With schools and universities open again in the UK and around the world, Lucy Kellaway’s recent FT Weekend Essay about teenage mental health seems more pertinent than ever. This summer she delved into what Britain’s schools are doing to tackle a mental health crisis among young people, drawing on her own experiences as a secondary school teacher.
What to do, then, as parents and teachers?
We posed the question to our readers, who seem to be of many minds: some suggested that Kellaway — and other teachers — are dealing with a generation genuinely afflicted by multiple mega-crises. Others think kids are too sheltered by protective parents and are picking up misinformation about mental health online.