Ideal standards for policy on student self-harm: What research and practice tells us

Abstract

School communities face challenges in responding effectively to the rising incidence of student self-harm. Evidence-informed guidelines may provide a platform for schools to provide better responses and improve the outcomes of students who engage in self-harm. This paper critically reviews policies published in English targeted for schools or education settings on effective early identification and intervention for children and adolescent self-harm. A grey literature search was conducted using Start Page web search engine with a documentary analysis approach applied to review polices that met criteria. The review identified 16 policies that aim to help school and education staff to identify and respond to student self-harm. The key themes include identification and risk assessment, intervention, roles and responsibilities, as well as addressing issues surrounding evidence-based psychological education and intervention. An evidence-informed policy that addresses multiple aspects of responding to and reducing student self-harm may be a vital foundation of a school’s response to this growing public health issue. This paper outlines key points that will help inform the development of evidence-informed guidelines for schools to respond to student self-harm and presents an exemplar policy framework for use by schools.

Prevalence, Response and Management of Self-harm in School Children Under 13 Years of Age: A Qualitative Study

“…In order to appropriately and compassionately support children who self-harm, further trauma informed psychological education and training regarding identifying and responding to self-harm may be necessary for all staff, so teachers can provide students with adequate support, especially when school psychologists are not available (Simm et al, 2010;Townsend, Gray, et al, 2018;Townsend, Hasleton, et al, 2018). Guidelines have recently been published that provide guidance to schools to support effective responses to students who engage in self-harm (Matthews et al, 2021). Previous research has also suggested that pre-career training for teachers in responding to self-harm would be beneficial (Best, 2006).…”

The impact of gender and age on bullying role, self-harm and suicide: Evidence from a cohort study of Australian children

“…Self-harm is a significant public health concern [ 1 , 2 ], with suicide now recognized as the fourth-largest cause of death among 15–19-year-olds worldwide [ 3 , 4 ]. These issues are of serious concern in Australia also [ 5 ], with recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reporting that death by suicide among people aged 18–24 years increased by 52% from 10.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2010 to 16.4 deaths in 2020 [ 6 ]. In addition, self-harm and suicide have emerged in recent years as the leading cause of disease burden in Australia among young people aged 15–25 [ 7 ], resulting in the Prime Minister of Australia declaring self-harm and suicide prevention among young persons to be a national priority [ 8 ].…”