Sir John Kirwan’s Mitey mental health initiative launches in Bay of Plenty

John Kirwan addresses a crowd at Pyes Pa School. Photo / Tom Eley.

• Mitey, a mental health initiative for schoolchildren, founded by Sir John Kirwan, has launched in the Bay of Plenty.
• The programme, free for schools, aims to embed mental health education for Years 1-8.
• Kirwan hopes to reach 600 schools by year’s end, with a goal of all 1400 primary schools.

“Our children need help,” Pyes Pa School principal Blake Carlin said at the Bay of Plenty launch of mental health initiative Mitey.

Mitey provides free support to schools to teach mental health education to young tamariki in Years 1-8.

It was founded by mental health advocate, former All Black Sir John Kirwan, after seeing key statistics had not budged in a decade.

Mitey created a mental health education curriculum for teachers, by teachers, Carlin said at Thursday’s launch.

The event was attended by Kirwan and representatives of three local schools using Mitey.

“For us, it is a no-brainer,” Carlin said.

There was a lot of anxiety for children at school, and they need the tools to help express their emotions in positive, healthy ways.

Waihi Beach School principal, Rachel Cole, Omanu School deputy principal, Marie Pollack and Pyes Pa School principal Blake Carlin. Photo / Tom Eley.

The other attraction for him was that Mitey was administered at no cost to the school.

“People always laugh when we say that, but that’s one of the realities. We are always scrimping and saving.”

Waihi Beach School had also joined the programme.

Principal Rachel Cole said Waihi Beach can be home to a lot of intergenerational trauma and is far away from conventional resources accessible in big cities.

“Our community has higher mental health and suicide statistics in relation to our population,” Cole said.

The team from Mitey was working with teachers on the ground at the school, and had shifted the conversation around mental health to an everyday discussion, Cole said.

“It has been powerful to say, ‘We’re going to talk about this’.”

Sir John Kirwan said Mitey had a goal of reaching 600 primary schools by the end of the year. Photo / Tom Eley.

The Mitey programme is designed to be taught to kids before they reach high school, Kirwan said.

“If you look at stats, a lot of our youngsters are harming themselves.”

The initiative launched in 2022 and has been rolling out in schools around the country.

Kirwan would like to reach 600 schools by the end of this year and eventually see the programme in all 1400 New Zealand primary schools.

Kirwan has spoken openly about his mental health struggles and in 2006 became the face of the National Depression Initiative awareness campaign.

“Mitey stemmed from failure. I woke up after being the face of mental health in this country, and the stats are still going the wrong way.”

The Sir John Kirwan Foundation built a data-driven curriculum with the support of the University of Auckland, based on a Māori model.

He wanted to see New Zealand go from having some of the worst mental health outcomes to the best.

“What is important for me is getting the data so we can see the truth.”

According to the most recent available Te Whatu Ora Health NZ data, 579 people took their own lives in 2023, and 108 were under the age of 24.

Māori accounted for 23% of suicides in 2023, but only made up 17% of the population.

Sir John Kirwan and Wayne Wright. Photo / Tom Eley.

Over 82% of youth view mental health as the most significant issue they face, according to Youthline.

Mitey is supported and funded by the Wright Family Foundation, led by Wayne Wright.

“It just made sense,” he said.

Wright took a more active role in the Wright Family Foundation after his wife, businesswoman and philanthropist Chloe Wright, died in September 2023.

He said the foundation’s focus included early childhood care, child health services, music, literacy and maternity wraparound services.

Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford.

Bay of Plenty faces unique challenges that make resources like Mitey particularly valuable, the region’s MP Tom Rutherford said.

It has diverse communities with different needs, from urban centres to rural areas, along with socioeconomic disparities that impact children’s wellbeing.

“By embedding these vital life skills into everyday learning for Years 1-8, we’re normalising conversations around mental health from an early age.”

There was increasing anxiety and stress in younger age groups across the region, often exacerbated by social media pressures and the aftermath of Covid-19 disruptions, Rutherford said.

“The Mitey program represents exactly the kind of proactive approach we need to be taking with children’s mental health.”