Local MSP Stuart McMillan raised the work being done by Ben Kane, a former Clydeview Academy pupil from Gourock, who is campaigning to ensure schools are better equipped to support pupils affected by bereavement.
Ben, following the death of his sibling while in third year of high school, set up a counselling group at his school for bereaved pupils – and wants to see this initiative rolled out across Inverclyde and Scotland.
Stuart highlighted Ben’s efforts during a speech in Parliament on tackling social isolation and loneliness, and stressed how adults have a part to play in helping the children and young people in their lives understand the reality of death, and support them to grieve in a healthier way than generations have done previously.
During his speech, Stuart said:
“We talk about bereavement as a majority experience, but I am sure that, if everyone in the chamber was asked to picture a bereaved person, we would typically picture someone who was older. Rarely do we think of children as being bereaved.
“The reasons for that are obvious, but according to a recent study by the Children and Young People’s Centre of Justice and the University of Strathclyde, more than half of Scottish children have experienced bereavement due to the death of a close family member by the age of eight.”
Stuart went on to raise the fact he wrote to the new Children and Young People’s Minister following a meeting with Ben about his campaign, and concluded by urging the Scottish Government to provide its response to the recommendations of the National Childhood Bereavement Project report, Growing Up Grieving.
Commenting, Stuart said:
“The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring children and young people affected by bereavement, which is why it commissioned the Growing Up Grieving report.
“However, it’s vital that the government’s response to the report’s recommendations are published as soon as possible – because if what is currently in place was enough, Ben wouldn’t have felt the need to establish his own counselling support group for pupils affected by bereavement at his school.
“That’s why I wanted to bring up what Ben is doing and the wider experiences of children and young people during this debate because any policy to reduce social isolation and loneliness must take into account Scotland’s young people who are dealing with bereavement.”
