澳大利亚昆士兰州于日前推出一本名为《良好心理健康基石》的教育指导手册，里面列出了很多可以帮助教师在教书的同时注意塑造学生心理健康的“小贴士”。其中，教师用红笔批改作业被列为不当的做法，建议换用其他颜色的笔。该手册指出，红色为代表攻击性的颜色，学生看到用红色批改的作业或者试卷时心理会受到伤害。

Teachers using red pen to mark students' work could be harming their psyche¹ as the color is too aggressive, according to education strategies drafted by an Australian state government.

The "Good Mental Health Rocks" kit², which was distributed this month to about 30 schools in Queensland state, offers strategies such as "don't mark in red pen (which can be seen as aggressive) - use a different color."

Other tips include structuring time for peer tutoring every day, apologizing to students when necessary and asking students to conduct a "personal skills audit³" where they focus on their individual strengths rather than their weaknesses.

The kit, designed to help Queensland teachers address mental health in the classroom, suggests social and emotional wellbeing has been linked to young people's schooling⁴, among other things.

The education aid has sparked a row in parliament, with deputy opposition⁵ leader Mark McArdle calling it "kooky, loony, loopy lefty policies."

But Health Minister Stephen Robertson, whose department devised the kit, said youth suicide was a serious issue.

"If mental health professionals determine that as one of a number of strategies teachers should consider, then I'll support them every day of the week," he told reporters recently. "This is not a matter for ridicule⁶, this is serious."

According to some Australian mental health groups, the greatest number of people with mental illness are aged⁷ between 18 and 24 years, with 14 percent of Australian children and adolescents suffering from some sort of illness.

Boys are slightly more likely to experience mental health problems than girls and depression is one of the most common conditions in young people and increases during adolescence⁸, the website of mental health group Mindframe said.