Why mental-health lessons in schools might be a great idea with Kevin Runions
- Brad
- Oct 2
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 6
Release date: October 3, 2025
Recently, Lucy Foulkes, a Research Fellow in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian newspaper titled, “Mental-health lessons in schools sound a like a great idea. The trouble is, they don’t work,” in which she asserts, “the only information we should teach en masse is where a young person should get help.” My guest today to discuss this article and get beyond its provocative title is Kevin Runions. In addition to being a friend of Talking About Kids, Kevin is an academic researcher, an independent consultant, and a globally-recognized expert on the important components of school climate, like bullying initiatives and mental-health lessons. Spoiler alert: Keven and I do not believe that the research Lucy cites supports her conclusion. More information about Kevin, including how you can engage him to improve school climates where you live, is below.
Biography of Kevin Runions
Kevin Runions, Ph.D. (Human Development & Education, OISE/UToronto) is a research associate with the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, and a Honorary Fellow of the Kids Research Institute Australia, in Perth, Western Australia. From 2022-2025, he led the Research, Evaluation & Monitoring team with School Mental Health Ontario, which supports over 2 million elementary and secondary students — to implement multi-tiered, identity-affirming student mental health interventions. Dr Runions has conducted research across the biopsychosocial model addressing mental health and well-being, and is also interested in how schools can better implement sustainable prevention and response for student mental health, bullying, and improve school climate and safety. He is an expert on bullying, aggression, and dysregulated behavior problems, with a passion for understanding the factors that enable young people to bully others, including emotional, motivational, and volitional contributors. He is on the council of the International Society for Research on Aggression and serves on the editorial boards of Aggressive Behavior, and the Journal of Psychologists and Counselors in Schools.
Links
Kevin Runions
"Mental-health lessons in schools sound like a great idea. The trouble is, they don’t work." by Lucy Foulkes
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