Youthline Optimistic About Young New Zealanders

Youthline Optimistic About Young New Zealanders

Prime Minister to unveil Plaque marking 40th anniversary

For release: 26th January 2010

Despite troubling statistics for areas such as youth suicide, depression and substance abuse, Youthline firmly believes young New Zealanders can help transform us into a more civilised, compassionate and successful country.

The respected youth charity is to hold the first of a series of events celebrating its fortieth anniversary year on Thursday 28th January, when the Prime Minister, the Hon. John Key, unveils a commemorative plaque at Youthline House in Ponsonby (see below for details).

Mr Key will also tour the premises, which act as a base for Youthline’s activities in Auckland, including its flagship helpline service, a wide range of early intervention services, counselling options, youth worker training and leadership services, research initiatives, social enterprise activities and an Alternative Education Programme for students where mainstream schooling has failed.

“There’s no denying that young people figure prominently in a wide range of negative statistics. For example, our suicide rate for 15-19 year olds is the highest in the OECD, while, in 2004, a Ministry of Health survey found 28.6 percent of 16-24 year olds reported experiencing a mental health disorder in the previous 12 months,” says Youthline’s CEO, Stephen Bell.

“These and other statistics, on issues ranging from anxiety disorders to binge drinking to drug use to obesity to youth poverty to exposure to sexual abuse or violence, point to the challenges facing us as a country and a community. However, amidst the gloom, there are also sound reasons for optimism.

“If some issues have become more visible, it’s often because today’s young people are more willing to acknowledge problems and to reach out and ask for help, often using communications technology that didn’t exist forty years ago,” he says.

Stephen Bell describes Youthline as a significant part of the process whereby young people can seek out help. Last year, the organisation’s early intervention services received over 100,000 calls and 200,000 text messages, whilst its websites were visited more than 100,000 times.

“Our services can provide an accessible doorway for young people on the brink of despair, encouraging them to identify and link up with the resources available. There are many alive today who might not have been without the connection with Youthline and there are countless others for whom a conversation with a Youthline person was the point at which their lives started to turn around.

“Our helpline is typically just the start of a process whereby we wrap services around young people, allowing them to continue on a pathway that helps build confidence and connectedness”.

“Last year, we organised over 50 youth development programmes across New Zealand, as well as providing a huge range of counselling services, seminars and outreach services, whilst our more than 800 volunteers clocked up a total of 130,000 hours of service to the community,” he says.

“To grasp how Youthline has grown over the past 40 years, you simply need to look at our most recent annual telephone bill, which came to over $150,000 whilst in 1970 it was just about one percent of that figure.

“But while many things have changed, some remain constant, such as the emphasis we place on encouraging, facilitating and training young people to take on active leadership roles within the organisation and beyond.

“Young people who originally contact us in a desperate search for help can subsequently move onto leadership’s roles with young people active in all aspects of Youthline’s work.

“For Youthline, the promotion of youth leadership is a key part of our commitment to building a more civilised society in which, hopefully, we won’t face all the social and human problems that confront us today. It’s about meaningful citizenship and helping people to connect with the community and give something back,” he says.

“Most of today’s young people know far more than I did at their age. If we can provide them with the right support and opportunities at this stage, the future will be in great hands when they take over,” Stephen Bell adds.

YOUTHLINE’S FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY

The Prime Minister, the Hon. John Key, is to unveil a plaque commemorating this important milestone. There will also be a tour of Youthline House and refreshments.

Date: Thursday 28 January
Time: 10.00 a.m.
Venue: Youthline House, Ponsonby
Address: 13, Maidstone Street, Ponsonby, Auckland

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