2024 Whitehorse Youth Forum

Reflection: Cheryl C, Year 11 Leader 

The White Horse Youth Forum was an incredibly eventful and profound experience. The presentation from the keynote speaker emphasised the need to take action against racism and was deeply impactful for me. Additionally, I attended three workshops on mental health, meditation and education/career pathways. We discussed de-stigmatising mental health and available support systems for it, further practising mindfulness and broadening my career choices through a comprehensive overview. Overall, the Forum was enriching and I gained invaluable insights to support my future personal growth. 

Reflection: Minnie C, Year 10 Leader 

Pink, green, yellow or blue?   

As we made our way into the Whitehorse Youth Forum last Thursday, these were the colours we had to choose from. Looking down at the bright smiley face stickers, I was faced with a dilemma – I could only go to three of the four sessions! But the show goes on, and after a few minutes darting back and forth, I landed on yellow, and made my way to my group.   

Our first destination was a mental health workshop, where we talked about how to look out for ourselves and our friends. We made self-care boxes and filled them up with goodies like affirmations, scratch-and-sniff stickers, tea bags and bubbles. I think it’s really great that we can be open about our mental health and that there’s lots of support to help us out.   

Our next stop was a mindfulness session with yoga and meditation. We learnt to release the tension from our body by putting one arm forward and pulling the other back like a bow, then letting go with a “HA!” It felt, to quote myself on the day, “transcending.”   

Our last session of the day was about careers, which is convenient since we’re at that time of the year where we need to make decisions about our subject pathways. It was an insightful talk that outlined the pros and cons of different options, and I walked away feeling much more confident about life after school.   

And that was my day!  

I thoroughly enjoyed the Youth Forum, as did a lot of my friends, and I’m super grateful that I was given the opportunity to go. Until next time!    

Reflection: Shi J-G, Year 10 Leader 

In the Whitehorse forum, we were split up into groups with multiple other schools and led to 3 workshops. I did the meditation, drugs and alcohol and the education workshop. The drugs and alcohol taught me that our perception of what a standard glass of wine or other alcohol may be wildly different from the actual measurements. In this workshop we also were able to use goggles which showed us what a drunk person sees. We were given 3-4 attempts to catch a ball as well as walk around. This experience taught me how dangerous it was to walk around drunk let alone drive. The education workshop gave me an insight into what opportunities I could take after school, including the pros and cons of each option. Lastly, the meditation workshop, in which we did yoga, showed how much relaxing was important especially during our exam periods. Additionally, a speaker also came in to talk to us about racism. He talked about the different forms of it as well as the impacts of it.