A leading voice in mental health is urging the government to place more trained mental health professionals in schools, particularly to support boys in developing healthy emotional habits from an early age.
The Reverend Jayson Downer, associate forensic psychologist, emphasised the urgent need for safe, judgement-free spaces where boys can seek support and begin healing. He believes schools are the best place to start.
“The government needs to invest more resources in psychosocial education. In other words, we need to get more mental health professionals into everyday spaces like schools,” Downer said.
He was addressing a men’s mental health panel hosted by the Rotary Club of Trafalgar New Heights under the theme Let’s Break the Stigma.
Downer criticised the current school system for placing too much pressure on guidance counsellors.
“A ratio of 500 students to one guidance counsellor just doesn’t work, because guidance counsellors aren’t trained in cognitive behavioural therapy. We need more qualified professionals in that space who can intervene early. When we normalise boys talking to mental health professionals from as early as basic school, that habit will stay with them as they grow,” he reasoned.
Downer described mental health as a lifelong process that influences a person’s emotional, psychological, and social development, and insisted that the issue must be treated as a national priority. For him, supporting men’s mental health means more than just offering help when a crisis arises–it requires long-term spaces where men feel safe enough to be vulnerable and seek healing without fear.
“There are varying things that cause men to be stressed and because of the masculinity that is purported when [males are] born, and the type of unhealthy masculinity that dominate our society, the space has to be created in order for men to be able to express themselves because right now it’s really not looking good,” he shared.