Culture and Wellbeing
Suicide Awareness and Media Content
Recent media coverage raising concerns about controversial US Netflix series 13 Reasons Why provides a timely and critical reminder for parents and carers to be aware of the media their children are consuming, and the potential impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
The Netflix series, which is currently screening, depicts a fictional teenage suicide, with graphic and confronting messaging and imagery, including suicide method and means. High profile mental health professionals as well as youth mental health organisation Headspace have issued a warning advising that the show “exposes viewers to risky suicide content and may lead to a distressing reaction by the viewer particularly, if the audience is children and young people.” The Netflix series is considered very dangerous content, particularly for vulnerable children and young people and Headspace notes “national and international research clearly indicates the very real impact and risk to harmful suicide exposure leading to increased risk and possible suicide contagion”. The national suicide media program, Mindframe, also has significant concerns related to this series, and collectively, organisations and professionals are urging parents, carers and school communities to be aware of the dangers and risks for children and young people who have been exposed to the Netflix series.
Television content is not the only medium that is currently coming to attention of organisations and authorities in terms of the negative impact on the mental health of young people, as games, apps and social media platforms come under scrutiny. Australian cyber safety expert Susan McLean has expressed great concern about the Blue Whale game. The game reportedly targets young people and promotes acts of self-injury as specific challenges over the course of several weeks, finally culminating in a suicide challenge. There has been a reported spike in youth suicides linked to the game in some countries, although some reports speculate this is fake news. While the game does not appear to currently be available in Australia, parents are urged to monitor their children’s wellbeing and use of particular online games, apps and social media use, which may create a mental health risk.
Being available to talk to your child about the media content they are consuming is critical to supporting their mental health and wellbeing. Promoting suicide awareness is vital, by having open conversations about suicide, the warning signs, and how to get help and support. The following links may be useful for supporting these conversations at home:
https://www.headspace.org.au/news/how-to-talk-to-young-people-about-13-reasons-why/
https://parents.au.reachout.com/common-concerns/mental-health/suicide-and-teenagers
Please don’t hesitate to contact the Director of Middle Years / Senior Years should you have concerns about your child’s health and wellbeing.
Marni Harding
College Counsellor
Peer Support
Peer Support is a program that presents Year 11 students with an opportunity to organise and facilitate weekly lessons for the Year 7s in their Village. We had 2 lessons of Peer Support each week, one for planning and organising the agenda and activities, and the other to engage and lead the Year 7s. It was a great opportunity to build relationships, improve leadership and have fun together as a Village.
As this year's Peer Support leaders, we were able to plan, organise and execute a very wide range of activities during our sessions from ‘Getting To Know You’ games, treasure hunts, team-building games and sporting activities and celebratory Village parties at the end of the program. We all planned meticulously and worked hard to ensure our sessions were valuable and enjoyable experiences and ran smoothly. The sessions were so worthwhile for both year levels. It was a change from listening to teachers to being the teachers and to escape the stress of school.
Although the entire program was very successful, everyone would agree that the highlight of this experience was definitely incorporating the Endeavour Way into a project. Each Village chose an aspect of the Endeavour Way, and encouraged the Year 7s to work collaboratively with the Year 11s to contribute something meaningful to the school environment. It needed also to show the Endeavour Way values; Love, Courage, Forgiveness and Hope. This helped the Year 7s to see the Endeavour Way in action and learn how to embrace it in their everyday lives. Some of the projects completed this year were, decorating one of the College's stairwells with word art posters, string and wood art of symbols representing the four values and icing biscuits in the colours of the Endeavour Way.
Throughout the Peer Support Program, the Year 7 students were able to develop lasting friendships with the older Year 11 students in their Village. These friendships gave the Year 7s someone to trust and talk to about issues at school or to answer questions they had about how the school operates. All of our interactions and activities supported the Year 7 students with their transition to high school. They will always have someone to encourage them if they need help and should never feel as though they are completely alone. Additionally, important rules, such as the Uniform Policy, and concepts, such as the Endeavour Way, were reinforced throughout the sessions the Year 11s conduct.
To the Year 11s, the Peer Support Program served as an excellent way to develop and showcase our leadership skills through guiding the sessions with the Year 7s and working diligently behind the scenes organizing and ensuring that everything went according to plan. We now wait with anticipation for the opportunity to apply for school leaderships positions next year as Year 12s. Additionally, the sessions were a great way for us to develop our communication and interpersonal skills as we conducted our sessions. We found the sessions to be enjoyable and loved making new friends among the Year 7 cohort. Perhaps the saddest part about Peer Support was the end, as neither the Year 7s nor the Year 11s wanted this special time that we had together to come to an end.
Overall, Peer Support was a really positive and enjoyable program that really helped transition the Year 7s into high school life and enabled the Year 11s to expand and develop their skills in leadership and communication. It was a very rewarding and valuable experience for everyone and while it will be sad to not have our Peer Support sessions anymore, the friendships we have built during these sessions will surely last throughout the rest of our time at Endeavour and beyond.
Bradyn Walsh and Saduni Albaradura
Year 11 Students