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Young People &Well-being: contemporary science debates in Wales ISCI 2011 - July 29 th 2011 Slide 2 Background Context UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) Develop appropriate indicators Views of children/ YP must be taken into account Shift from child welfare to child wellbeing Social actors in their own right Voices of children and young people missing Wellbeing Domains for YP & Children Slide 3 Slide 4 Slide 5 Slide 6 Slide 7 Slide 8 Slide 9 Slide 10 Slide 11 What does wellbeing mean for young people in Wales (16-19)? Slide 12 Individual Post-its Slide 13 Categories Slide 14 Individual Post-its (Top 10) RankPost-its Word Count % 1Friends 786.67 2Family 776.59 3Sports 504.28 4Money 443.76 5Food 423.59 6Music 393.34 7Health 363.08 8Fastfood 332.82 9Education 322.74 10Alcohol 302.57 Slide 15 Categories: Post-its (Top 5) RankCategories Word Count % 1Socialising105.78 2Education, Food84.62 3 Health, Relationships 74.05 4Family, Sports63.47 5Essentials, Money, Needs, Wants 52.89 Slide 16 Friends, family, socialising Family and friends is number 1 because like we said family and friends thats what your life is built aroundwithout any of them, the others dont really count at bottom of list entertainment .without your family and friends, you wouldnt be very happy (Male, Fairwater, Year 14) We chose socialising because like a lot of things go under socialising like weve got confidence, because when you like socialise, youve got more confidence and friendsand it gives you more confidence in yourself..and friends.schoolbecause like with school you meet friends and Facebook which is like a socialising network anywhere (Female, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) Without them, you wouldnt be where you are today, they set your morals and your norms (Female, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) Slide 17 Sports (3), Money (4) Sport is most important because its an everyday thingits what we do everyday( Male, Fairwater, year 12) because if you dont have money, you cant.buy anything.and stress! .its like organising to go somewhere and youre likeI cant because Ive not got any money (Female, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) if youre poor youd want money, if you were rich, youd take it for granted you need that happy medium (Female, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) Being out of work affects your wellbeing because its money, innit. If you havent got money, you wont be able to afford if you havent got money, you havent got nothing have you. You cant do anything really (Female, Coleg Gwent, WBQ1) Slide 18 Food (5), Music (6), Health (7) Food you always need it you need it to stay alive its cause its amazing in general (Female, Archbishop McGrath, Year 12) healthy lifestyles because its important to stay healthy otherwise you could die (Male, Archbishop McGrath, Year 12) if you werent fit and healthy and like in all emotional ways then nothing would go right, would they, in your life you wouldnt have a life (Female, Archbishop McGrath, Year 12) I think if you havent got health you cant be happy you could have all the money in the world but you wouldnt be happy (Female, Heolddu, Year 12) Slide 19 Fastfood (8) I love KFC, McDonalds, Rustler burgers, lucozade.Dominoes (Male, Bridgend 2, Year 12) can you imagine life without KFC, McDonalds or Subways or bread? (Female, Archbishop McGrath, Year 12) Parents probably wouldnt put food down as a category. Well, weve picked things like Chinese, they dont think that would be appropriate for us, they think we should eat healthy (Male, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12,) Slide 20 Education (9) If you didnt have education, how are you going to get a job, and how are you going to get a home if you havent got a job ? (Male, Bridgend 1, Year 12) Its scary Im stressed. Im not excited, because going into work now with the courses Im picking I dont know it if will lead to a job. That stresses me out... the stress starts in year 9 because you have to get good grades to get onto these courses that are young to put you on the right university course. (Female, Heolddu, year 13) Slide 21 Alcohol (10) experiencesalcohol gives you confidence (Female, Year 12, Cwm, Rhymni, ) we drinkgo out with our matessocialisingby getting steaminggo out and get a kebab .(Males & Females discussing, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) because society is so tight these days, its the only way of letting gobut.it depends.because loads of people in our group dont like drinking (Male, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) Slide 22 Other issues Role of technology in facilitating socialising Social networking sites (pos & neg) Mobile phones and video games Importance of humour, comedy and LOL (laughing out loud), having fun Independence: being able to do the things that you want to do Feelings and emotions (being happy): at root of other categories (necessities, lifestyle, love) Slide 23 I think if youre happy with yourself and if youre happy with everything thats going on around you, then everything will almost come together more than anythingI meanI think thats really the core of wellbeing, being happy (Female, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) .but happinessI think thats what makes life good as welllike being happy to do them things that you want to do.that makes you happy its about how you feel about things (Female, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) Slide 24 Story cards Slide 25 Rank 1 you get different qualities when do get jobs, you socialise with other people and you just get more respect from people (Male, Fairwater Year 12) We chose it cause jobs pretty much important, without a job, youve got no moneywithout money, no house..and people are losing their jobsand less jobs happening nowand were in the same situation (Female, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) Slide 26 Rank 2 if I was in that situation Id be upset and sad, it would affect her wellbeing because shes got no family, love and friends the stuff we take for granted (Female, Heolddu, Year 12) because if one of us applied for a job, she could get it over us. its a possibilityIf she got a job over anyone in this room, she could be lyingif she applied for job, she might get it (Male, Fairwater, Year 12) Slide 27 Rank 3 Its all rubbish. People need to understand its all airbrushed and they dont really look like that (Female, Heolddu, Year 12) .media having such an effect on people our age and not just our age, older as well. and you would get like a column saying how to get to a size six, but you wouldnt get one about how to get to a size 16 would you? you wouldnt so.so its just as importantI think you should just be happy with how you are (Male, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12) Slide 28 Information Cards Slide 29 Rank 1 Its not fair that most youths get tarred with the same brush. People make judgements, theyre afraid. Hoodies thats the nickname theyre given. They assume theyre going to rebel against society. I used to cross the road to avoid people (Male, Heolddu, Year 12) I think everyones got happiness, but when they have got wealth, it just makes everything a bit better. (Male, Coleg Gwent, WBQ1). It depends what you make as your top goal in life. If moneys your top goal in life, if you havent got it then you arent going to be happy (Male, Coleg Gwent, WBQ1). Slide 30 Rank 2 If you say to someone, your mental health is abnormal, I say, were 6.5bn people on this earth. Show me a brain that is normal, and then you can call someone abnormal when you know what is normal. Its all subjective (Male, Coleg Gwent, WBQ1) We agreed with it to a point nature/nurture.. a person could be mentally unhealthy ..someone could work harder to be a better person when they grow up (Female, Bridgend 1, Year 12) You cant get jobs, just because youve got a disability. People are afraid to help that person. They get discarded really. They feel like theyre a wasted human really (Male, Coleg Gwent, WBQ1) Slide 31 Rank 3 Whats portrayed in the media shapes what people tend to think. The media is based on getting the biggest story to make the most amount of money. Youths may be good, but they wouldnt have in the newspaper 18 year old helps woman cross the road, cause it just wouldnt sell. But an 18 year old doing a drive by, thats got to sell. (Male, Coleg Gwent, WBQ1) cause everyone has a negative image of teenagersjust cause you wear a hoodie, like a jumper with your hood upwhy would you assume that we are going to do something wrong (Female, Archbishop McGrath, Year 12) Slide 32 Is measuring WB worthwhile? Yes, we never get noticed. Always getting stereotyped, it is important that everyone is heard Yes because that ages are very unreliable and their emotions effect them more than a younger or older person. Also at this stage of life has big effect on the rest of your life and can have an affect on their childrens life The current 16-19 year olds are the ones coming out of schools, college, university to look for work and help bolster the economy, so they should always be considered as well Yes, its a fork in the road moment. To find if things need to be changed Slide 33 Is measuring WB worthwhile? If you ask the children what they think about itits doesnt necessarily mean that theyll take the information on board and actually do something about it.like yeah, weve been askedbut when you think about it theyre not going to impact on itbecause dont think that our views are importantits like they ask the adults and stuff about what they want to do in opinion polls .but they dont ask the children, even when they do ask, they dont ask us directly. (Female, Archbishop McGrath, Year 12) Yes, weve got lots of opinions and they need to do more lobbying about us and things are changingbecause our opinions is just as important as anyone else, and the future is going to affect us, not the older generation (Female and Male talking together, Cwm Rhymni, Year 12). Slide 34 Summary Innovative methodology for engaging YP on wellbeing Insights into relevant domains of wellbeing for young people (16-19) in Wales Importance of family, friends (people you socialise with), places/times in which you socialise, and how you socialise Other: sports, money, food, health, music, fastfood, education, alcohol Technology, humour, importance of feelings/emotions Important that WB measured for this age group: moment of transition & stress Strong views on having their voice heard Slide 35 For further information Project website: http://goo.gl/6bzlNhttp://goo.gl/6bzlN (BRASS - includes summary document for schools) http://www.ons.gov.uk/well-being/wellbeing/child- wellbeing/index.htmlhttp://www.ons.gov.uk/well-being/wellbeing/child- wellbeing/index.html (ONS) Julie Newton: newtonj2@cardiff.ac.uknewtonj2@cardiff.ac.uk Cerys Ponting: pontingc@cardiff.ac.ukpontingc@cardiff.ac.uk Slide 36