I move that, in the opinion of this House, the Ministry of Education should continue its advocacy to education stakeholders in the province of Ontario, such as school boards, faculties of education and the Ontario College of Teachers to strengthen professional learning on mental health for educators and school staff, keeping in mind strategies to support mental health and well-being with a focus on social-emotional learning skills, mindfulness, outdoor learning and physical activity initiatives with advice from local health units and approaches that foster a welcoming, safe and inclusive environment.

Speaker, my motion presented today is geared towards enhancing community safety, reducing violent and aggressive behaviours, increasing mindfulness and facilitating resiliency amongst youth by providing them with adequate mental health supports and practices in schools. Ontario’s children and youth need more mental health supports to better succeed. With this motion, students will better be supported in school and will see increased energy levels, concentration and optimism, resulting in a better overall academic performance.

According to the Ontario Child Health Study from 2019, approximately one in five Ontario students between the ages of four to 17 years old meet the criteria of at least one mental health matter that they would like or need support for. From 2019 to 2021, the need for mental health supports for youth increased from 35% to 43%. That’s exactly why we need to bolster mental health supports for our students, and that’s simply what our government, led by Premier Ford, intends to do.

In my riding of Brampton East, we have hundreds of families that rely on school boards for support to do their part in raising the future of Ontario when there isn’t appropriate help readily accessible. It has long-term effects on the students and those around them. Many concerned parents have brought forward incidents of their child feeling isolated or stressed due to academic and social factors. Ontario has a diversified population of families, eager to work hard and establish a brighter tomorrow. Through hard work and sacrifice, these families should have peace of mind, knowing that adequate supports are available to help their children face mental health pressures.

Speaker, just under half of the students part of the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey report that, in the past year, there was a time where they wanted to talk to someone about a mental health problem but didn’t know who to turn to. We understand that students spend a great deal of their day at school and can naturally wish to turn to their teacher for support when struggling with mental health.

Our province’s teachers and education staff do an impeccable job of nurturing students and play a significant role in their development. They often go above and beyond their basic responsibilities, investing extra effort to understand each student’s unique needs and providing personalized support. They design engaging lessons, facilitate classroom discussions and encourage critical thinking and creativity. However, our educators are not trained mental health professionals.

Speaker, struggling with mental health can naturally lead to negative repercussions which can impact students’ lives and cause them to react drastically. This can be in the form of avoiding classes, having difficulty making friends and/or behaving differently with teachers and classmates. In more extreme situations, it can also lead to students acting out through violent acts and aggressive behaviours.

With this motion, our government, through the Ministry of Education, will be able to better equip and train our province’s educators with the appropriate resources they need to support students and help them overcome the mental health struggles that they may face.

A recent study conducted by the Toronto School Administrators’ Association reported that nearly three quarters of principals and vice-principals at Toronto schools are finding it increasingly difficult to manage student behaviour, with many of them expressing a concern about the rise in violence.

There is stigma amongst youth when it comes to talking about mental health, and instead of seeking help and support, youth tend to act out and express themselves in a manner with negative connotations. To address this concern and reduce the stigma, this advocacy campaign needs to be implemented to provide students with a safe space that they can feel heard.

Speaker, as many of you have heard, there are six schools in Mississauga and Brampton that were targets of online threats to “shoot them up.” While the Peel and Dufferin-Peel Catholic school boards and Peel Regional Police do a phenomenal job of protecting our families and loved ones, we need to take preventative approaches to reduce crime in schools by providing accessible mental health resources.

This past week, we had a concerned mother come into my constituency office with a heartbreaking but eye-opening story. Her son was physically bullied at school, but didn’t feel comfortable telling anybody about it and instead made the excuse of feeling sick and avoiding going to school. While at school, he was bullied and faced aggression from his bully, and he was physically injured as a result.

On the other side, when you look at the other side of the story, we have a bully that’s acting out violently by injuring another student, likely in response to unaddressed or unresolved feelings. With the support of mental health, maybe that can be solved as well. While our educators do an amazing job instilling knowledge and teaching students the curriculum, they’re not always equipped to identify and recognize distress signals and mental health concerns among students.

Speaker, I’m moving this motion today in response to the countless stories such as this that I’ve heard from concerned parents, to address the growing epidemic of students needing mental health supports in order to provide them with better, nurturing classroom environments.

The previous Liberal government, with the support of the NDP, failed to understand the severity of such instances and the need for sufficient in-school supports for students and staff. They failed to provide sufficient funding to school boards to ensure that all students had access to mental health supports and services that they needed and that there were enough mental health professionals accessible to provide that adequate support. I hope they now recognize this shortcoming and support this motion.

It’s critical to have educators and school staff equipped to handle various situations so they can embed mental health promotion into the education experience and help foster a safe and inclusive classroom environment. Simply put, our government gets it. That’s why we have already made strides in paving the way for better mental health resources for these students. Every year since 2018, we have consistently increased funding to support student mental health in Ontario. For the current school year alone, we invested $90 million, which is roughly five times the amount we initially invested in 2018, which is a nearly 555% increase.

In November 2022, the Ministry of Education conducted a consultation with community stakeholders to identify and highlight what’s happening in schools and the greater community in relation to mental health and to review the coordination of mental health resources and services in schools. Ultimately, this consultation led to the recommendation of embedding age-appropriate mental health learning and resources throughout the curriculum. Our government took prompt action on this issue, and in just five months, we executed a plan to integrate mental health learning and materials for grade 7 and 8 student curriculums. We also introduced mandatory learning on mental health literacy for grade 10 students, which will help cover key topics such as how to recognize signs of being overwhelmed or struggling, as well as how to access help when needed.

I would like to commend our Minister of Education, Minister Lecce, and his ministry team, as well as MPP Pierre for their dedication and action in delivering our government’s commitments to support students and help them succeed.

Speaker, an advocacy campaign like the one I’m moving today will not only continue to build our government’s priority of supporting the mental health and well-being of students and staff across the province but also act as a proactive and preventative measure to increase mindfulness, decrease violence and aggressive acts, facilitate resiliency and, ultimately, enhance community safety. It will also focus on providing educators with social-emotional learning practices that can be introduced into the classroom routine to promote mindfulness and facilitate a suitable learning environment. Finally, the campaign will focus on establishing healthy relations between educators, students and peers in order to foster healthy and welcoming inclusive classrooms.

Providing targeted training on mental health strategies such as social-emotional learning skills, mindfulness and physical activity initiatives will allow for educators to become well equipped with the tools and resources they require to support good student mental health and will allow them to become someone for struggling students to turn to and seek support from.

School Mental Health Ontario is an organization that focuses on supporting the mental health and well-being of students and is our province’s official school mental health implementation partner. In line with the motion being moved here today, they believe that to create a mentally healthy school, as a whole-school approach, which they ask to be adopted—which means that mental health promotion should be integrated into all aspects of the educational environment, curriculum and practices.

They also stated the following: “Schools are a critical part of the overall mental health care system in Ontario for children and youth. The role is focused on wellness promotion, prevention, and early intervention. The goal is to help young people flourish while reducing the number of students in need of intensive mental health supports.”

By focusing on wellness promotion, prevention and early intervention, our government can help schools better develop students, their skills and the resilience they need to maintain good mental health while also identifying and addressing issues before they become more serious. By prioritizing mental health training for educators and school staff through this campaign, we can ensure students in Ontario have access to the support they need to thrive both academically and socially. This advocacy campaign is catered to supporting students, which will lead to better outcomes in both the short and long term, including improved academic performance; stronger interpersonal relationships with peers, teachers and families; and better overall well-being.

In summary, the motion I am moving today is asking for this House to support the Ministry of Education in spearheading an advocacy campaign to encourage educators in implementing mental health practices in their classrooms and provide them with the appropriate resources to do so. This will result in mentally healthy classrooms and will facilitate academic student success which ultimately will lead to greater community safety.

To achieve this goal, the campaign will focus on key implementation strategies mentioned earlier which include: outdoor learning opportunities and emotional well-being practices that can be utilized for all grades; providing educators with social-emotional learning practices; and fostering welcoming and inclusive classroom environments. Together, we can make a difference and ensure that all students in Ontario have the tools they need to thrive.

And then as these new resources are implemented, our ministry, supported by the PA, has been working very hard to make sure that these resources are available for grade 7 and 8 students and teachers as well as they revise the grade 10 curriculum to include mental health literacy.

As I mentioned before, most mental health issues developed between the ages of 15 to 24 during the COVID pandemic, and through this motion we’ll be able to better support them.

I want to thank the member for Brampton East for sharing his time with me today and for bringing this important motion forward. I’d also like to thank the member from Ottawa West–Nepean for sharing her personal story, her children’s story, and also for sharing some of the ideas and some of the things that I certainly believe in—and we believe in, as well—that we need to do.

The mental health of students has become a pressing issue in our educational system, with three quarters of recently surveyed principals and vice-principals of Toronto schools finding it increasingly difficult to manage student behavior. With the increasing pressures of academic performance, coupled with personal challenges, it’s essential to prioritize the well-being of our young learners. To achieve this, the Ministry of Education should continue the work they’re doing, working with stakeholders to improve the professional learning opportunities for educators and school staff, and encouraging and facilitating the opportunity to focus on social-emotional learning skills and mindfulness, while also working with the community sector to ensure a seamless delivery of additional care, when and where appropriate.

And of course, when we look at a continuum of care, which is something that we all understand based on the Roadmap to Wellness, and the importance of delivering a seamless level of care on a continuum of care basis, to ensure that we can deal with the issues, whether it be in the classroom at school or where additional services and supports are required that there is a seamless hand-off to the appropriate service providers to be able to look at those more complex cases, teachers and other education workers are in a unique position. We need to understand that and to appreciate the importance of how they can influence the mental health of their students. They interact with them daily and can identify the signs of emotional distress, helping students cope and develop healthy habits.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard stories of young people with eating disorders not being identified in the classroom or even by their parents. So the education and providing those supports to be able to understand the needs of the youth are obviously extremely important because they lead to, then, providing the supports where and when those supports are necessary.

Teachers interact every day with these children, and they can identify the signs of emotional distress. This will help students cope and develop healthy habits. However, we know that teachers often don’t have the resources, the training or supports necessary to address the mental health needs of their students. By providing teachers and other education workers with the appropriate resources, we can create safe and supportive spaces where students can find peace and learn the resiliency skills that will carry them through whatever challenges they may face.

We’ve all heard the statistic that 70% of the mental health and addictions issues we see in adulthood could have been identified, and there could have been supports for individuals so that they wouldn’t carry them into adulthood. Well, that is part of why this is so important.

One crucial resource that teachers require, I believe, is mindfulness practices. Mindfulness practices such as meditation and deep breathing exercises have been proven to reduce stress and anxiety while improving concentration and overall well-being. Mindfulness can be easily integrated into the daily routine, and teachers can create a calming space in their classrooms for students to practise. While this may not be enough, it is the beginning.

I can tell you, having been in India just recently, looking at the system of yoga and meditation, that by introducing it into the classroom for just a half hour a day, they were able to reduce violence by 30%. I thought that maybe was unique to the culture, but I’ve also seen similar statistics out of California, where schools that had high rates of violence within them started utilizing a half hour of mindfulness and yoga as part of their curriculum. They also saw a 30% drop in violence in schools. These practices, I believe and we believe, can create an environment where students can develop resilience and emotional intelligence.

Moreover, teachers and education workers require access to a range of mental health resources beyond mindfulness practices. A review of the physical education and health curriculum to include active and outdoor learning practices would also allow us to integrate components of land- and water-based healing practised for generations by Indigenous communities across the province. We know that these do work; we’ve seen them utilized in Indigenous communities, and we’re also seeing, by introducing them into the system, how they’re impacting children and youth.

Just recently, I was in Kenora with Kenora Chiefs Advisory, and I had the opportunity to visit Strecker Farm in Kenora. Over 3,000 children every single year are going through a program there with equine therapy, with art therapy, with activities that are providing them with all they need to change their lives and improve their lives.

Building resiliency requires a multi-faceted approach, and teachers must be equipped with the necessary resources to support their students. This is why this is so important. We need to work towards creating an environment where the children have each and every type of support necessary. We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again, thinking that somehow we’re going to get a different result. We need to look at other jurisdictions where we see positive growth in the children and youth by utilizing systems that may seem strange to us but actually are working because they have elements that are necessary for the development of a child, many of which wouldn’t otherwise be there in an environment other than a school.

Mental health awareness programs can help teachers and other education workers identify the signs of distress and provide students with the necessary resources in the school or the community setting.

Now, I said it: We need to have that connecting piece, and where I believe as a parent—and having been now the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions—we sometimes fall is that connecting piece between the education system and the actual community-based services. There has to be better communication. There has to be a continuum of care where those children are able to get the supports outside of the classroom where and when they need them.

We know that many of the issues that children face each and every day can’t be resolved within the school confines. They need to include family. They need to have complete supports for individuals—and children can see each other, speak to each other and understand what those needs are. This is how the problem will get resolved, and this is why we’re working towards that.

Findings from the 2021 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey indicate 42% of students reported there was a time in the past year where they wanted to reach out and talk to someone about a mental health concern but were unsure of whom they could turn to. Providing all education staff, including teachers and administrators, tools and resources they require to support good mental health will ultimately lead to the academic, social and emotional success of students. This is something that I know is true—again, as the minister meeting with different organizations and young people, the number of times I hear that the young person doesn’t know where to turn.

As a matter of fact, just recently this past weekend, I was at the Kids Help Phone walk in Vaughan–Woodbridge, and I had the opportunity to speak to some of the children. You know, it’s incredible that a Kids Help Phone line spoke to 16 million children in the course of one year across Canada. The statistics are staggering. These kids need support. These kids need an outlet. They need that connecting piece. And the more we can do as a government to create those connections I believe will make a huge difference in their lives. We can’t do this in a silo. We can’t allow the system to continue functioning the way it is. We need to break those silos and build those connecting pieces, and that requires building stronger partnerships with our community children and youth mental health providers.

When it comes to dealing with the diverse and complex mental health needs of our young people, we want to build their social-emotional learning and resiliency in appropriate settings and ensure they also have access to the continuum of care that we’re building here in the province of Ontario. It’s important that students in need of mental health supports are able to get those supports easily, and teachers and other education workers engaged with them will require supports to be able to do that kind of work with students so that they can get the support they need in the community sector. Those outside supports can be critical through transition periods, over the summer and changing schools.

Investing in mental health resources for teachers and all education workers is an investment in our children’s future, and it’s an investment we as a government believe in. By prioritizing mental health, we create an environment where students can flourish academically, emotionally and socially. Mental health resources help students develop the resilience, empathy and the emotional intelligence necessary to succeed academically and in life. We need to equip those teachers, as I said, with the necessary resources and empower them to create a safe and supportive space that fosters emotional well-being.

With this motion, I believe our government is building on the work that the Minister of Education has been doing to better equip and train our province’s educators with the appropriate resources they need to support students and help them overcome the mental health struggles that children face each and every day.