THERE IS an urgent need for adults to communicate with young people, particularly boys, the Positive Mental Health organisation (PMH) has been told at its annual fundraising event in Galway.
Rev Dr Tony Byrne, director of Awareness Education, said that young people in Ireland were not content just being observers but felt the need to be appreciated, loved and affirmed by adults.
They wanted to be heard and to participate in solving the many problems confronting adolescents.
Awareness Education is a charity and collaborative ministry of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans) and the Presentation Sisters. It provides programmes on facing up to suicide; harmony in the home; understanding alcohol misuse and on confronting bullying in the workplace, home and school.
Dr Byrne’s colleague, Sr Kathleen Maguire, said at the event that the young experienced great confusion and pain during their formative years.
Though their adolescent life was exciting, they found it held great challenges in the struggle and pain of coping with change.
It could be a particularly difficult time for boys as very often they felt inferior to girls.
This was because girls matured faster and generally achieved higher academic distinction in school.
Positive Mental Health was founded in Galway by Violet Gavin and a committee in 2005. Its initial aim was to develop a suicide prevention strategy and to help eradicate the stigma attached to depression and other forms of mental illness.
It has broadened its objectives and formulated modules on a wide range of mental and emotional health issues which are delivered in a safe, confidential setting by teams of trained volunteers.
PMH’s activities include visits to second-level schools where a continuous evaluation is conducted among students.