Being young has never been more difficult
by Terry Rubenstein
Being young has never been more difficult.
This recent article from young journalist Alex Mistlin really struck me. With disrupted education, rising rents and low wages, I can see why many young people are finding it hard to feel optimistic about the future, and objectively it does look like they have it tougher than generations that have preceded them.
On top of that, The Prince’s Trust Youth Index report that was shared this week found that 48% of young people report experiencing a mental health problem since the pandemic. The report was, understandably, focused on solving the concerns of children by putting them into placement jobs and internships as a way of combatting the growing mental health concerns.
But how do we turn things around? How can we help our young people from feeling hopeless to feeling hopeful? We have seen it ourselves through our work at iheart, that when our youth understand that firstly it is human and normal to experience the full spectrum of emotions AND secondly that their wellbeing (their capacity to feel confident, motivated, clear-headed, calm, grateful and optimistic) is innate/ built-in. This is:
Liberating
Young people are excited to discover that they are whole and well. Nothing is wrong with them. Their wellbeing can be covered for a while but can never be damaged, lost or broken.
Hopeful
Young people discover that they have everything they need inside of them, even during that times they are not feeling experiencing this. This gives them the confidence to achieve their potential and overcome setbacks.
Empowering
Young people gain the knowledge and skills to help UNCOVER their wellbeing more of the time so that they can navigate their journey through life. No doubt they will make detours, but they can get back on track!
Resilience Tutoring
Resilience tutoring empowers children to deal with issues such as self-esteem and labelling, social media usage, the bad behaviour of others and disagreements and conflict.
Teach iheart
Are you passionate about helping young people become more resilient and interested in working with them in a 1-1 setting, small groups, youth projects or schools? If yes, then we invite you to train to become an iheart Resilience Youth Coach
Take on a challenge for iheart
Whether you’re a social walker or a thrill-seeker, we’re sure to have a challenge event below to suit you. By choosing to take on a fundraising challenge you are enabling iheart to help reach more young people in need.