Some aspects of policy on mental well-being of children and adolescents and the Polish educational law

Introduction: the article deals with policy in the field of mental well-being of children and adolescents in Poland. Special attention is paid to the country’s educational law and the tasks that face the entities constituting the Polish educational system in terms of taking effective measures to protect mental health of children and adolescents, including health promotion, prevention of mental disorders and the provision of care for people with mental aberration. Purpose: the article aims to identify and discuss some aspects of policy on mental well-being of children and adolescents in Poland. Methods: the complex and interdisciplinary nature of the issue in question determined the methodological framework of the study. The authors employ methods traditionally used in research on public policies, such as political analyses of processes, methods used by researchers in the field of law, administration and economics. The main research tool in this study is the analysis of political public contexts which occur in the administration and enforcement of law. A functional system analysis is employed as an auxiliary tool. Results: despite the fact that the discussion on maintaining the mental well-being of children and adolescents has been taking place for many years, and that the educational law system and health policy, including its elements related to mental health, cover many aspects being of fundamental significance to the issue in question, practice shows that that there are still systemic and institutional deficiencies in this field. Conclusions: mental health promotion and mental disorder prevention in children and adolescents cannot be treated as separate activities, but they require a holistic, systemic, and hence horizontal approach. These activities must be integrated into a unified prevention policy at all decision-making and operational (executive) levels.