'I'm worried about the future of the current generation': Children's expert on 'lack of resilience'

The Labour administration used the King's Speech this week to highlight plans to prioritise mental health equally with physical health, particularly for children and young people.

Carol Lyndon MBE, from Great Barr, has been working with young people since 2006. The former headteacher said phones had reduced resilience among young people, and the effect of the coronavirus pandemic could not be underestimated.

When she started in her post as a counsellor for NSPCC, the 75-year-old said the issues young people called about were ‘much more simple’.

Carol said: "They would call us about bullying, falling out with parents, family relations, or partners, or that they might be pregnant."

The grandmother-of-four said in the early 2010s, everything changed for children: "As computer technology advanced, and kids had mobiles, they were being got at at home, at night, through any means you like, they couldn’t escape it. Then there was a wave of a lack of resilience.

"Before, if you had a bad day, you had a bad day, you got over it. Now there’s a real lack of resilience. When I first started here, it was nearly three years before I had my first suicide call. It was such a shock. Now, it’s four, five, six contacts every day."

Carol said the NSPCC was receiving more calls because there were fewer options for children who needed support.

She said: "You’ve only got to look at schools who have education psychologists who they fetch if they have children with issues. They haven’t got time and they’re not funded. The kids aren’t being picked up at schools. GPs are doing referrals then children are going onto waiting lists that last for three years, four years. The explosion has got worse since Covid.

"The new government needs to put funding immediately into mental health services. They need to put more money into local services for kids. Where can kids go in the evening? All the youth services were shut down. They don’t go out, they don’t get fresh air, they’re just sitting there on tablets."

Carol said that on one hand, there was not enough for children to do, but on the other, because of the continuous stimulation from screens, children suffered withdrawal and did not have the capacity to be bored. The screens also skewed a young person’s perspective, as they did not see other people having a bad day on social media, she said.

She said: "Communities have to get together. I’m really worried about the future of the current generation."

The NSPCC is recruiting volunteers. For more information on volunteering or support, click here to head to the charity’s website.

Report by Local Democracy Reporter Rachel Alexander