Wellbeing @ Homestead

Social Connections

Struggling to connect socially? Here are some tips and resources 

During your younger adult years, there are many things to navigate that can cause stress and worry, like academic pressure, social media, and trying new things. So, it’s understandable that figuring out how to make new friends or connect with new people can be extremely challenging. An important aspect of growing up and finding out what interests you and what you are passionate about, is meeting new people. A normal part of connecting with new people is feeling worried and stressed about how to initiate a conversation, how to maintain a friendship or how to navigate conflict. These are some of the difficulties that young people face every day. It’s normal to experience distress around social interactions and worrying about how to approach people. Feeling stuck or confused on what to do in these situations is very common and is a challenge that many young people face. Approximately 57% of young people your age reported feelings of loneliness, and 1 in 2 young people report feeling stressed about these feelings. If this is something that you are experiencing, then these are some useful tips to consider.

Tips: 

Putting yourself out there: small talk 

Small talk has been something that many people shy away from, but it is actually a great way to break the ice and find shared interests with new people. 

Some conversation starters may include: 

• Introduce yourself to someone new.
• Asking open ended questions: which means asking questions that the other person must give a detailed response to, rather than a yes or no question. 
  - e.g. What sports do you play or have played in the past? – This gives the person a chance to explain their history with sports and gives you an opportunity to ask further questions based on their response. 
• Asking a person about an activity or hobby they are involved with.
• Approaching someone to ask about homework or involvement in classwork. 
• Ask to join in on a conversation or activity. 
• Join a lunchtime group you are interested in (see below).

Joining lunch time groups or other school activities 

There are a variety of school groups and activities that you can be involved in, based on your interests. Joining a lunchtime group or attending school activities is a great way to connect with like- minded people.

Lunchtime groups:

Other school activities:

Lunchtime house events run frequently throughout the term, check your weekly student bulletin for updates and information. 

There are lots of sporting activities that you can be a part of – you can see Lachlan the Sports coordinator for more information. 

Get support 

You can contact the wellbeing team if you’re needing to talk to anyone at school.

Kids helpline 

https://kidshelpline.com.au/

Reach Out 

https://au.reachout.com/

Headspace 

https://headspace.org.au/

School Wellbeing 

Reach out to Bethany or Emma for support.

Bethany's email: bethany.collier3@education.vic.gov Emma's email: emma.howarth@education.vic.gov.au

-Bethany Collier, Student Counsellor