School children as young as five are self-harming, exhibiting significant behavioral issues and suffering anxiety and primary school principals say they are struggling to respond.
“Children as young as prep and grade one are having such significant behavioural issues that whole classes of students are having to be removed because they are destroying the classroom,” says Anne-Maree Kliman, president of the Victorian Principals Association.
“I have had students as young as grade two telling me they wanted to die.”
As the royal commission into Victoria’s mental health system begins community consultation sessions this week, Ms Kliman met with Education Minister James Merlino and urged him to dispatch mental health workers to primary schools and increase access to primary welfare officers.
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