In 2022, there were over 25,000 self-harm admissions among 8-17 year olds in the UK. This was a 22% increase from the previous year.
Moreover, 17% of adolescents have admitted to at least one instance of self-injury in their lives, suggesting that over 3 young people per classroom have self-injured.
90% of 12-17 year olds in the UK reportedly do not contact medical or psychological services once they have self-harmed. Whilst around 50% of those who self-harm do inform friends, the appropriate professionals are not made aware.
Self-injury covers a broad spectrum of actions and is intended as a method to cope with intense emotional pain and upset.
There are vast numbers of young people across the UK who have carried out self-injury of some form, many of which are not seeking the suitable help or resources. It is of vital importance that schools have the facilities to address this problem; there must be a support system in place to help young people who are in danger.
ECINS’ Solution
Student wellbeing is every school’s priority, and ECINS have developed a system that allows young people to self-report so staff members can act fast where necessary.
Self-injury is incredibly dangerous, but the ECINS system provides wellbeing support for young people and an outlet for them to share their feelings. Staff members can identify those at risk and implement the appropriate measures to control numbers of self-injury in schools.
The SEM (Student Engagement Module) enables serious issues to be addressed and resolved. The system has been carefully curated to improve communication between students and teachers. It supports all young people, but especially those who may be a danger to themselves.
There are a variety of SEM features that combine to create a network of support for students:
· Chat function
· Calendar
· Task setter
· Attendance tracker
· Help + advice documents
· Mood tracker
These tools provide a student with wraparound care. Each element can be used to target self-injury among students, with some features addressing the problem directly.
Mood Tracker
Self-injury is synonymous with emotional pain and negative feelings, but it may be difficult for staff members to identify students that are struggling emotionally in the classroom.
The ECINS mood tracking feature allows students to choose an emoji that corresponds with their mood and complete a diary entry about how they feel. Students can comfortably report negative emotions with the knowledge that only trusted staff members have the real-time access to their information.
The SEM privacy guarantee gives young people the confidence to speak up because the need to speak to somebody in-person is mitigated. As previously stated, 50% of those who self-harm only tell friends, not professionals; this implies that half of those suffering feel able to speak up to somebody they felt comfortable with. A great deal of shame and guilt has been associated with self-injury, but the mood tracking feature gives more students the confidence to disclose their situation. Reporting self-injury virtually might be preferable to some.
Student may also share thoughts about self-injury before they materialize so staff can intervene and prevent the situation from escalating.
Chat Function
Staff members have real-time access to student submissions so at-risk students can be identified and contacted using the chat function.
Reports of negative feelings from students can be followed up by messages from staff to intervene in dangerous scenarios. This will not require 24/7 surveillance from members of staff but will instead give them the opportunity to reach out to students in response to their journal entries.
Teachers can interact with students who reported negative feelings as a preventative measure to discourage and reduce self-injury by providing relevant support.
Help + Advice Documents
The SEM also has a section dedicated to help and advice documents that can support all students. Giving young people access to resources helps them identify problems and learn where they can seek help, especially regarding self-injury.
Those who are experiencing thoughts about injuring themselves can find relevant information and guidance from their school on the SEM. Students can stop thoughts about self-injury from becoming a reality by understanding the appropriate preventative measures.
Young people who aren’t personally having feelings about self-injury can also find advice about helping peers who may be at risk. These resources can help students to recognize concerning behaviors and learn the procedure of reporting self-injuring individuals to members of staff.
Again, this process circumvents the need for students to approach staff in-person, with virtual access giving young people more confidence to find support and refer peers.
Calendar, Task Setter and Attendance Tracker
There are some SEM features that can support self-injuring students indirectly, focusing on other aspects of their school lives. The calendar, task setter and attendance tracker all contribute to supporting a student by stabilizing their school experience.
By providing help with sources of anxiety, such as feeling overwhelmed by tasks, the other SEM features can help young people to feel organized. For example, the task setting and calendar options give students greater control over their school lives, enabling them to manage their responsibilities. This organization could reduce negative feelings and reduce self-injury in schools.
Moreover, the attendance tracker gives students a QR code to scan during lessons or optional activities. This incentivizes attending school and increases the likelihood for self-injuring students to be recognized, reported, and supported by the school community. Spending more time at school may make young people that are struggling with self-injury feel more comfortable to speak up and acquire the help they need.
ECINS is dedicated to strengthening communities and providing support that is vital to young people’s wellbeing. The SEM gives students wraparound care, targeting potential sources of stress to make them feel more understood by staff members and more comfortable to speak out about self-injuring.
Giving students access to these tools creates a safer atmosphere because resources explaining how to seek help are readily available, as is an outlet to share negative feelings. Teachers can understand individuals on an emotional level and direct them to the appropriate support to reduce cases of self-injury in schools and keep young people safe.
