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Unhappy Asks...
Hey im called unhappy on your message board i have emailed you before about my depression and the probelms i was having and you gave me lots of good advice which i really appreachate i wanted to ask you some thing as your such a great help and you give really good answers.
If i am been a pain asking you things you can tell me .
What information can a teachers pass on ?because i wanted to tell my head year more about my depression and give a better understanding about thevoices telling me to take pills . dreams about commiting sucide which when im awake they stil run through my head as if its real ,the images jumping in front of things or jumping of things to try and kill myself ,words what run through my head i would to be dead or i whish i wasnt born and the sucidal thoughts etc .
Would they pass on any iformation on about what i have said?
Please reply asap
Thank you
Unhappy
xx
What we suggest...
Hi, thanks for your email and we're glad you're finding our replies helpful. Please don't think of yourself as 'being a pain', you can ask us as many questions as you like and we'll do our best to help!
What you are asking about is called 'confidentiality' and it can be quite complicated. Although many services for young people offer confidentiality, it can never be completely confidential because in some situations children and young people need to be protected from harm, and this is when information can be passed on. They should ask you for your consent to pass on any information if they decide you are 'competent' to consent (this is based on your maturity and understanding), and they should tell you what is likely to be the result of passing information on. However, they can do it without your consent if they decide it's the best way to protect you but they should still you tell you what is likely to happen next.
You ask us what information teachers have to pass on. Basically, by law teachers must pass on any information they have that suggests that a child or young person is at risk of harm. This is because your teachers are employed by your local authority (in your case Surrey County Council) and local authorities have a legal duty to protect children and young people from harm. So in your own case it may be that if you had the sort of conversation you describe with your head of year they may well talk to the child protection officer again, who you've mentioned before, just by way of updating them.
If at some point there was to be a meeting involving all the professionals who are working with you (your school, the child protection officer, CAMHS, your psychologist) each will decide how much information about you they will pass on to the others, and again they should ask your consent and explain the likely consequences to you.
It's good that you feel comfortable with your head of year to be able to confide in them, as you have done on many occasions previously, but unfortunately they aren't trained or qualified to work with mental health issues. So you could perhaps think about having this sort of conversation with your mental health psychologist or a CAMHS worker instead. It's the mental health people who can best help you with your depression, and the voices, dreams and images you're having. We recognise it will take time for you to feel as comfortable with them as you do with your head of year but we're confident they'll do their best to help you if you can let them into your confidence.
We understand from your previous emails that your situation seems to have reached a sort of stalemate with your school saying that they can no longer cope with you, and CAMHS and your psychologist saying that they can't interfere with what your school says and does. It must feel very unsettling for you not knowing what may happen when you go back to school next month. This is where we think your local Education Welfare Service may be able to help and that some way can be found for you to continue with your education. As we said in our previous reply, if your school does not refer you, you and your parents can contact them directly. We need to apologise as we appear to have given the wrong contact details in our last two replies so here again is how to contact your education welfare department:
- telephone 03456 009 009, and ask for the Education Welfare Service
Also, don't forget:
- The Advisory Centre for Education, general Advice Line: freephone 0808 800 5793. Open Monday - Friday 10am -5pm
We hope we've been able to answer your question. If you think we can help further, with this or anything else, or just to let us know what's happening, please email us again.
Best wishes from q2a.
Expert advice and every precaution has been taken to ensure that the information on this page is trustworthy and reliable, but the publishers do not hold themselves responsible for any inaccuracy as information can go out of date very quickly. This page gives general guidance only and should not be treated as a complete and authoritative statement of the law. With regard to suggested weblinks given in this reply please note that Lancashire County Council is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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