Campaign launched to teach mindfulness in schools

Following the tragic death of Brianna Ghey, her mother has backed calls to add mindfulness into the school curriculum.   

Last Friday, 2^nd February 2024, two 16-year-olds, Scarlett Jenkinson, and Eddie Ratcliffe, were charged with the murder of Brianna Ghey and sentenced to life in prison. Brianna, who was also 16 when she died, was transgender and as a result of it unfortunately not being fully accepted by society yet suffered with severe anxiety and depression.  

Esther Ghey, Brianna’s mother, is now part of a campaign to create ‘a lasting legacy’ to her daughter. Previously, Ms Ghey has already launched a local campaign in Warrington, which has raised £50,000 to deliver mindfulness training in schools in the area. 

In addition, Brianna’s mum is now backing a nationwide campaign alongside Charlotte Nichols, a Warrington North MP, which is calling on the government to fund mindfulness programmes in every school across the country. 

According to the leading mental health charity Mind, mindfulness is a calming technique that involves being aware what is happening in the present moment without any judgement. 

Yesterday, 7^th February, Charlotte Nichols took to the stands in Parliament and explained why the loss of Esther Ghey’s ‘beautiful’ daughter has inspired her to call on ministers to help fund such a programme.

‘Brianna Ghey was sassy, beautiful, kind, courageous and authentically herself,’ Cllr Nichols said. ‘She was loved fiercely, and her death was unspeakably tragic.’

Cllr Nichols added: ‘No parent should ever have to bury their child, but to have gone through what Esther has and have the drive to seek positive change in the wake of that takes extraordinary courage and compassion.’

Despite a spokesperson for the department for education saying there are currently no plans to introduce mindfulness into every school, all learning establishments have been offered grants to train a senior mental health lead by 2025.

Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has previously claimed that the Online Safety Act, which was introduced in 2023, is strong enough to protect children from any digital harm, but when speaking to BBC Breakfast Brianna’s mum said that there needs to be urgent further changes to the law.

She said: ‘I would like to see the law change so that children only have access to children’s mobile phones, and that could look exactly the same as an adult’s mobile phone but without the ability to download social media apps, and there is software available already.’

Image: Lesly Juarez

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