FRANCES Beck knows the pressures of the classroom from both sides.
The 47-year-old biology teacher, from Stewarton in Ayrshire, has been unable to work for the past three years due to fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition which also causes fatigue, memory and concentration problems.
Read more: Half of teachers say pressure has caused them mental distress
“When the Curriculum for Excellence was coming in, the extra pressure on teachers was phenomenal,” she said. “From my own experience suffering from fibromyalgia, I’m quite sure the pressure of the job added to that.”
However, the mother-of-three has also seen the pressures driving young people to despair.
In February this year, her 24-year-old son Conor took his own life amid a battle with depression which she traces back school bullying.
“He was bullied through school to the point where when he was 16 heleft and went to college,” she said.”It’s something that stays with you. Last November he told us he’d been to see his GP for depression.
"He was at the doctor quite a few times getting increases in medication and changes in medication - it was a mess.
“At university he wasn’t really enjoying his course. I’d talked him into leaving and looking for a job instead, but it all just led back to him feeling hopeless - that he wasn’t being successful.”
Read more: Half of teachers say pressure has caused them mental distress
Ms Beck, who also has a 23-year-old son and a daughter, 16, added: “The pressure for them to succeed is phenomenal. The teachers are being driven by this ethos of ‘we need the grades’ and they pass that on to the pupils.
"My daughter and her friends are starting their Highers. They all feel the teachers are putting so much pressure on them to succeed and, rightly or wrongly, they have the impression that if they don’t succeed it’s going to be the end of the world.”
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