Teachers do not receive enough support when dealing with children's mental health problems, campaigners have warned following evidence that most parents turn to teachers first with concerns about their children.
An Office for National Statistics study last week showed that teachers were the first professionals that most parents contacted with mental health concerns involving their children.
Dinah Morley, acting director of charity YoungMinds, said that many teachers did not know where to refer parents to and often sent them to GPs, who also often lacked support.
Paul Corry, director of campaigns and communications at Rethink, said the charity provided support for teachers but it was only available in some areas due to limited resources.
"Teachers don't have easy access to a network of school health support that focuses on mental health. Many schools rely on teachers who are trained in counselling techniques, which is fine for immediately solvable emotional problems but not for more serious common mental health problems," he said.
The study, carried out in 2004 and covering children aged between five and 16, also revealed that one in 10 children and young people had a mental disorder - the same proportion as in 1999.
Conduct disorders, which include characteristics such as temper outbursts and disobedience, were found to be the most common disorders, affecting 6 per cent of children and young people.
