November 14, 2024

In recent years, the topic of young people’s mental health has been given great attention in Singapore – in fact, many believe that there exists an urgent youth mental health crisis that needs to be addressed. In light of this, Associate Professor Daniel Goh (NUS Sociology & Anthropology) and Dr Aaron Koh (Independent Researcher) offer a comprehensive analysis of how Singapore’s educational institutions have responded to the youth mental health crisis, with a particular focus on the aftermath of the River Valley High School incident.

 ‘The youth mental health crisis and the subjectification of wellbeing in Singapore schools’ (International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 2024) argues that schools have become the primary site for the internalization and surveillance of wellness. It employs a framework that borrows the ideas of Michel Foucault to discuss how students are produced as subjects within the schooling system that exercises authority and control.

In doing so, the article critiques existing approaches to mental health in schools. Instead, it emphasizes the need to shift from treating mental health issues as individual pathologies to understanding them within a broader sociopolitical context, which would require the consideration of the role of technocratic systems. The authors highlight the need for evidence-based practices and a critical evaluation of the current ‘surveil and counsel’ regime, suggesting that more emphasis should be placed on empowering students through narrative approaches that allow them to define and manage their own wellbeing. Hence, by shifting understandings of mental health, there is potential for adopting alternative narrative approaches to the role of schools in responding to the mental health crisis.

Overall, the article provides valuable insights into the complexities of addressing youth mental health. Taking into consideration Singapore’s unique socio-political environment, the authors underscore the importance of interdisciplinary and intersectional approaches in developing better and more effective mental health interventions in schools.

Read the article here.