Principal's Message

There is no doubt that friendships are incredibly important during adolescence as teen friendships help young people feel a sense of acceptance and belonging. Teenagers with strong relationships with peers develop compassion, caring, and empathy. Furthermore, these friendships go a long way in forming a sense of identity outside the family. Good friends make us happy and are a positive factor in our psychological wellbeing. As a friendship network provides us a sense of belonging, in turn, it also us with positive feelings about our relationships with other people in society.

Research has shown that adolescent friendship create a host of positive benefits including:

Higher-functioning immune system
Better self-esteem
Lower rates of anxiety and depression
Happier, more optimistic outlook
Longer life expectancy
Stronger emotional regulation skills
Improved cognitive function
More empathy and feelings of trust toward others.

As this is Mental Health Week and we are back on the road to have students’ onsite we encourage all the students to tune in and be present to one another. It means being aware of what is happening within them, and in the world around them. Being present by tuning in has been shown to help build self-awareness, help make effective choices, reduce the impact of worry, and build positive connections.

The students are able to tune in to many things:

Tune in to themselves – What can they sense right now? What can they feel?
Tune in to others – What might people around them be feeling? How can they connect?
Tune in to their communities – What is happening that they can be part of, or that they can help others be part of?
Tune in to stigma – How do attitudes and understandings of mental health and wellbeing impact on people’s ability to live the lives they want? How can we help?

http://mentalhealthmonth.wayahead.org.au/tune-in/

It was fantastic to welcome back the Years 7, 11 and 12 (and some Year 10) students onsite this week. The sound and displays of friendships were quite clear; excitement, laughter, story-telling, energy and smiling faces. Let us encourage them to build on the friendships they have and develop new ones too. It would be great if they can ”tune in” to the world of their teenage friends and beyond, and build on those relationships that continue to give life to this Kildare Ministries Community.

Raymond Pisani

Principal