MELBOURNE: Giving children a mental health ‘‘toolbox’’ early is crucial, a mental health advocate says.

Former All Black and mental health advocate Sir John Kirwan visited Port Chalmers School yesterday as part of his mental health education programme, Mitey.

Mitey is run through the Sir John Kirwan Foundation and launched in Dunedin a few months ago.

Sir John said he hoped the programme would give year 1-8 pupils knowledge around mental health ‘‘both emotionally, but also from a vocabulary point of view’’.

‘‘We’re hoping to go across a whole lot of primary schools.’’

He said the world was getting tough, especially for young people, so giving them these tools at an early age could set them up for life.

‘‘Expectations on our youngsters changed.’’

Sir John said if New Zealand was serious about changing its mental health statistics, education from a young age was the way forward.

After visiting schools across New Zealand, he felt a lot of confidence and hope for the future.

His aim was for New Zealand’s youth to be prepared for ‘‘whatever life throws at them’’.