What prevents Indigenous young people from seeking professional help for emotional and/or psychological problems, and how can counselling support services, such as Australia's youth counselling service, Kids Helpline, assist in overcoming these barriers? To explore these questions this paper draws on qualitative feedback from group discussions with 60 Indigenous young people (aged 10-24 years) living in rural, regional and metropolitan Australia. Findings reveal many barriers, including shame, fear, intergenerational stigma and limited awareness. The paper suggests that addressing cultural competency in services, hosting school-based education sessions and embracing offline and online contact points are helpful steps youth services can take to encourage formal help-seeking among Indigenous young people.
An analysis of 3,506 students who reported attending a church, mosque, temple or other place of worship once a year or more often was conducted using a nationally representative sample of secondary school students from New Zealand. Among students who attend religious communities, those who report higher connection to their place of worship and strong spiritual beliefs reported fewer health risk behaviours and/or mental health concerns. An exception was among sexually active students who had a strong connection to their place of worship, they more frequently reported inconsistent contraceptive use compared to sexually active students with a low connection to their place of worship. While connection to a religious community and strong spiritual beliefs were associated with fewer health-risking behaviours and mental health concerns, highly spiritual young people who are sexually active are less likely to use condoms or contraception.
Ali Philips was going about the business of her university studies and social life when the opportunity to volunteer with her sister's dance school, SPACE, presented.
This paper reports on outcomes of a pilot study implemented to assess items to be used in a large study of retention in Tasmanian state schools. Ninety-four students in Years 5 and 9/10 completed a survey devised to measure various categories of issues associated with students’ decisions to remain in school after Year 10. Similarities were found between the two year levels in relation to aspirations of students, parents and teachers but differences were found in relation to topics related to the school environment. As well, some differences were found associated with absence from school. The outcomes of the pilot study served as preliminary benchmarks for the larger study.
