Families who lost young boys to suicide say Scotland is still failing its youth

Grieving families who were -promised change after losing their loved ones to suicide today back our Save Young Lives campaign as they fight on for life-saving support. Shannon Brown’s world was shattered when her little brother Callum Dunne took his own life in woodland aged just 16. Helen Mitchell was told her -struggling son Jack, 18, was just your “typical teenager” before he cut his life short. Both women found the courage to channel their grief into fighting for better support since the deaths but today say Scotland is still failing its young people. The Record launched its Save Young Lives campaign this month to tackle youth suicide and support kids in crisis. Helen founded the Trust Jack Foundation in the wake of her son’s death and now – along with Shannon – has backed our drive in the hope it will help reverse harrowing statistics, which show more than one in four deaths among young Scots are by probable suicide . Helen said: “It’s almost 10 years since I set up the foundation and sometimes it feels like I’m still banging my head against a brick wall. People knew Jack was struggling then, but there just wasn’t enough support. Sadly, we’re still faced with many of the same -problems today. The suicide -statistics have not come down. What we’re doing is not working. It’s time to finally make change happen.” When Jack died in 2015 she was adamant that other young people would get the support he didn’t and founded her foundation, based in Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, a year later. Jack struggled with his mental health from age 12. But Helen, 51, said she had to fight for support. She repeatedly went to a GP but was told Jack was just a “typical -teenager” or “attention seeking”. He was referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services but didn’t receive the help he needed. Jack was self-harming and self-medicating with drugs before his suicide. After his death , his mum was told it was likely he had depression and autism spectrum disorder. In 2019, Helen’s charity helped launch a petition with a plea for suicide prevention and mental health programmes to become mandatory in schools – backed by Holyrood. The move, backed by the Record at the time, called for a free programme focusing on early -intervention for teens in crisis. Helen and others said they were ready to offer their -knowledge to help save lives . But the mum added: “We thought we’d won something but we didn’t. “As time went by we went back to it and -realised it wasn’t being done and the issue really was there weren’t enough people to teach it. All these years later we’re here trying to do it again.” Helen spoke to students recently about Jack’s story . She said: “When I spoke to third year the teachers said you could hear a pin drop – because they were listening and it was real. It needs to be about education. It’s got to be in schools. It’s got to be compulsory and part of the curriculum and it’s got to be meaningful. I don’t think it needs to cost a lot.” Helen also backed our call to help teach adults how to support a young person with problems. She said: “If I’d had the support and knowledge I probably would have been able to support Jack better.” Shannon, 30, from Wishaw, helped drive the campaign before a Holyrood committee pledged to incorporate the objectives of the petition into an ongoing mental health “action plan”. At the time of Callum’s death in 2018, two other Wishaw -teens took their own lives within the space of a week. The mum-of-three, who is studying at college, said: “ Callum would have been 24 now. I’m disappointed at the fact we’re still talking about this. “I feel like all the hard work we did all those years ago just paused and never really resumed. It was a bit of a confidence knock. I was pushing hard for the campaign and was really trying to make a difference, but I’ve felt quite helpless about it. It’s perfect timing to get behind this campaign . Something drastic needs to be done.” After Callum’s death, his sister Kaylee, then nine, struggled with her mental health. Shannon said support at school turned her life around and its vital others receive the same. She said: “If classes were mandatory instead of a choice I feel like it would have a far greater impact.” The Scottish Government said: “Our aim is for anyone at risk or affected by suicide to get the help they need. While Scotland’s -curriculum isn’t mandatory, schools are expected to discuss these topics through personal and social -education lessons. “Education -Scotland has been asked to consider this matter again as it takes forward reforms to the curriculum .” Need to talk? Call Samaritans on 116 113 or visit www.samaritans.org