TWO North Belfast youth organisations have revealed the findings of a unique research project aimed at recognising the link between positive mental health and emotional wellbeing and the ability for young people to begin to engage in learning.
The 'Ready to Start' research project was commissioned by YEHA Project (Youth Education Health Advice) in partnership with Streetbeat Youth Project.
The research was conducted to identify issues of concern for young people, the barriers to learning they faced both inside and outside the school environment and ways to improve learning in school and support from the perspectives of young people.
An anonymous online survey was developed for young people aged 11-18 years old and was open for two weeks in March 2022.
A total of 605 young people took part in the survey drawn from seven post-primary schools including De La Salle, Belfast Royal Academy, Belfast Boys’ Model School, Mercy College, St Malachy’s College, Hazelwood Integrated College and Belfast Model School for Girls.
PHOTO BOOTH: Pupils from Belfast Royal Academy
YEHA and Streetbeat embedded a youth work model in each of the schools and have trained young people as peer mentors in each of the post primary schools.
The peer mentors played a vital role in ensuring young people could access the surveys and took to the stage to present the findings alongside the recommendations and their own ideas as to how each school could enhance student wellbeing. They currently support young people in school through mentoring and organising positive mental health and wellbeing events.
This week, both projects as well as representatives from the Department of Education, Urban Villages, youth workers and pupils from the schools gathered at the Lansdowne Hotel on the Antrim Road to launch the findings of the project.
Recommendations from the work included: reducing stigma on seeking support for mental health issues, promotion of strategies to reduce and cope with stress at school, greater use of youth work pedagogy in schools, co-producing a peer-mentoring tool kit and building an evidence base on the effectiveness of peer-mentoring in schools.
Speaking at the event, Mary Montgomery, Principal of Belfast Boys Model, said: “We need to hear and listen to the voices of young people.
"Young people highlighted the top five issues which caused stress as bullying, worries about appearance, family/home problems, exam pressure and social media."
Sharon Clerkin, Assistant principal for Pastoral Care at Mercy College Belfast added: “We are reliant on youth workers in our school, the support not only to young people but to the staff is vitally important, they are able to go the extra mile to ensure young people are supported both in school and outside school”.
The project was funded under the Department for Education and supported by the Executive Office, Urban Villages project.
