Diocesan School for Girls Principal, Heather McRae, reflects.
One of the disadvantages of our modern technological world is increasing adolescent anxiety. With the rise of social media, celebrity culture, parental expectations, the drive to win and other pressures, a rapidly growing number of adolescents are finding it difficult to manage the increasing demands of life.
At Diocesan, we understand that the school years are crucial to the rest of our students' lives. Providing a learning environment where students feel cared for and supported is vital to promote healthy mental, cognitive, social and physical development.
In the last 10 years there has been a significant increase in the use of anti-depressants amongst young people - a 79% increase in under 13-year-olds and a 101% increase among 14-18-year-olds. Although this can be partly attributed to population growth and a greater awareness of mental health issues, these are still concerning statistics. Briana Hill from Youthline says the most common issues reported by young people are connected to self-esteem, confidence, relationship issues, and being accepted.
One of the most important issues we educate our students around is the use of social media. Online social networking can be a place where girls create strong friendships and support networks, but for vulnerable students it can be an incredibly unsafe space. Online socialising can involve intense peer interactions that are often stressful and can cause deep internal damage.
Being always connected online can also create high tension and stress. This then causes a higher production of adrenaline. Although this 'fight or flight' hormone is crucial to human survival, overproduction can create a constantly anxious state which negatively impacts on adolescent growth and development.
Real-life expectations of our young people are also increasing. In a more crowded and competitive world there is growing parental demand for students to achieve at a high level in sports, arts and academic success, even from a young age. These expectations can become damaging when, instead of using failure as a productive learning tool, parents will find others to blame for their child's lack of achievement.
At Dio, we firmly believe in establishing a supportive culture among our young women with a collective responsibility to each other. We celebrate success and participation, but we also believe in creating an atmosphere of accepting and learning from failure.
Our pastoral care programme aims to equip our girls with the confidence and ability to manage life's challenges, to reduce the pressure of perfection, and to manage anxiety and use it in ways that are productive. We provide mentoring and strategies for self-care and teach ways to seek silence and down time, especially without technology.
At Dio, we are committed to growing visionary young women with rich and fulfilling lives. The first step is to ensure that during their adolescent years our students establish confidence, self-assurance and pride in themselves.