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Leeds Beckett University partners with Molly Rose Foundation to protect mental health online
The partnership will see the university’s Mental Health in Schools Award, which is run by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools, updated to include new statements directly relating to digital safety.
Schools who take the award will now be required to have specialist points of contact who can provide guidance and advice relating to maintaining positive mental health online.
They will also need to provide students with up-to-date knowledge about how to access specific support, and to consistently monitor social media trends that could impact on student mental health.
The Molly Rose Foundation was founded by the family of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who ended her life in 2017 after viewing suicide and self-harm content online.
Following the inquest into her death in 2022, a coroner wrote to major social media firms asking to take more action to keep young people safe online.
The Mental Health in Schools Award from Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Education is the first award of its kind in the UK, helping hundreds of schools nationally and internationally to develop a whole institution approach to mental health.
Rachel C. Boyle, Dean of the Carnegie School of Education, said: “The Carnegie School of Education is honoured to be working with the Molly Rose Foundation to develop and enhance mental health provision in schools.
“This exciting partnership enables us to work meaningfully on key issues associated with mental health whilst honouring the memory of Molly Russell. We believe this is just the beginning of essential work needed to develop practices around mental health in education and digital wellbeing.”
A spokesperson for the Molly Rose Foundation said: “The Molly Rose Foundation is delighted to endorse these new statements as part of the Carnegie School of Education’s School Mental Health Award, relating to keeping children safe when using online and digital technology.
“This is such an important area as demonstrated by the findings of the inquest into the death of Molly Russell. We believe that through the accountability of the Mental Health Award, schools will be able to provide stronger support for young people’s mental wellbeing.”
Find out more about the Mental Health in Schools Award.