NCEA pressure turns students to medication

More young people are relying on medication to deal with the stress of the new secondary school assessment system, a Nelson survey has found.

The survey of teachers' attitudes towards the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) was carried out at Nelson College for Girls as part of a national study by the Secondary Principals Association.

Results of the study are due to be released this week but the college principal, Alison McAlpine, said an increased use of medication was one of the issues highlighted by the local survey.

While supportive of the new assessment system, Mrs McAlpine said the NCEA was stressful for some students because of the high level of internal assessment, and teachers and other staff were "very aware" of depression among students.

"The pressure that's going on kids, particularly kids that don't have good coping strategies, is huge."

She said she believed there were many factors, including school work, that added to depression in young people and was alarmed at the number of young people being prescribed antidepressants.

"We have never had it talked about to the level it is at the moment."

It was important schools helped students deal with pressure and stress and she wondered whether medication was being over-prescribed.

Ministry of Health figures showed more than 24,500 children aged between six and 18 were prescribed antidepressants from 1998 to 2002.

Nelson GP spokesman Graham Loveridge said there had been a definite increase in young people being given antidepressants over the past few years, but access to counselling services was difficult and sometimes doctors had no choice but to prescribe.

"As a consequence antidepressants are often tried but we have found it's not always successful."

Dr Loveridge said doctors were becoming more cautious about prescribing the medication to young people as it didn't always work, and those on antidepressants needed to be closely monitored.

Waimea College associate deputy principal and guidance counsellor Jim Scott did not think NCEA had caused more depression.

He said many students who showed signs of depression or extreme stress were more worried about their personal lives than about school commitments.

- NZPA