Parliamentary Support for Childhood Bereavement Education

A campaigner advocating for bereavement support for children described the parliamentary debate of his petition as “fascinating and surreal,” while also noting that significant progress remains to be made. John Adams, a funeral director based in Bridgnorth, who experienced the loss of his mother at the age of 12, seeks to integrate age-appropriate education concerning death and dying into school curriculums. The petition was discussed in Parliament on Monday, even though it did not achieve the 100,000 signature requirement, and received substantial backing. Moving forward, the petition will be advanced by both a cross-departmental working group and the Department for Education. Mr Adams stated, “It’s been a long journey to get to this point, and hearing MPs talking so openly about their loss and grief and bereavement in the House of Parliament… it was a moment, a real special moment.” He further commented, “I think they’re starting to understand the importance of this.” This petition was considered concurrently with another, which advocated for the documentation of the number of bereaved children across the UK to guarantee their access to support. Speaking to BBC Radio Shropshire, Mr Adams remarked, “Last night, even having those conversations in Parliament, it’s not the norm.” He continued, “But this is how we break down taboos, and I think death is one of the biggest taboos in the UK, in the western world.” Mr Adams concluded, “The conversations last night were really powerful, really positive, no one was against it.” Members of Parliament shared their personal experiences with grief, notably Stuart Anderson, the MP for South Shropshire. Anderson’s father, Samuel, passed away at the age of 37 when Anderson was eight years old. Anderson recounted, “I remember going to school later in the day, because the teacher had to tell my class: ‘Stuart’s dad has died, nobody mention it to him'”. He further explained, “If I misbehaved it was put down as ‘oh, he’s lost his dad, don’t say anything,’ or ‘How can we leave Stuart out?'” Anderson added, “If something went right or wrong, nobody knew how to deal it, from the teachers to the students.” He also stated that it was as if his father’s death had never occurred. “It took me many years to deal with it myself, but if I had had that education and awareness, and it could have been spoken about openly,” Anderson concluded.