Features - Young People's Top Ten Worries

Young people have pinpointed their ‘top ten’ worries - as Samaritans launches its winter campaign, supported by The Vodafone UK Foundation, to show the charity is a 24/7 confidential and non-judgmental service - for those problems you can’t even talk to your closest friends about.

The young look for comfort when they’re upset or ‘down’ faster than any other age group, according to research that’s been carried out for Samaritans. But they still have emotional ‘secrets’ they won’t share with even their closest friends.

Interviews carried out by The Dream Mill Research show that the …

TOP TEN WORRIES FOR TODAY’S YOUNG ARE:

•Study pressures

•Money problems – debt

•Having a bad job

•Having ‘bad’ friends who are a bad influence

•Family or home problems

•Bad living conditions

•Bullying

•Being constantly worried about the future

•Not achieving enough in life – not reaching your ‘goals’

•Others’ expectations of you being too high

Focus Group interviews were carried out by The Dream Mill Consultancy, which showed the top ten ‘stressors’ that lead to poor emotional health for young people.

The research also showed that for the young, being emotionally healthy was all about having a good circle of friends they could talk to and ‘having good ways of thinking about the world.’

However, although young people talked to friends about plenty of issues, they still had difficulty confiding in them about:-

•Family problems – divorce, violence, abuse, alcoholism

•Embarrassing things – sexually transmitted diseases, mistakes they make

•Things within their peer group – betrayals, relationships

•Issues their peer group wouldn’t accept – drugs, sex, anti-social behaviours

WINTER CAMPAIGN

A vital element of Samaritans’ winter campaign - is showing young people, especially young men, who share problems less than women, that Samaritans will support them whatever their problem is - and that it’s better to call sooner, rather than to allow a problem to develop into more of a crisis.

Samaritans runs an annual winter advertising campaign. This year the objective is to let people know they can call Samaritans about a variety of emotional issues - not just suicidal feelings.

Sarah Shillito, Senior Manager of The Vodafone UK Foundation which supports the winter campaign said:” We are proud that The Vodafone UK Foundation’s partnership with Samaritans is helping the charity’s ongoing communication with young people. The success of Samaritans’ email service proves that technology has an important role to play in reaching vulnerable young people, especially young men."

The Dream Mill focus group interviews show this work is paying dividends. A young London man said that good emotional health is about being in a ‘balanced state of mind’, while a young Leeds woman referred to it as ‘taking on board what’s going on around you and then dealing with it.’

The young people interviewed showed a greater understanding than in previous years that Samaritans is here to support people whatever their problems - that Samaritans supports you to improve your own emotional balance. This is a sign that The Vodafone UK Foundation’s communications work with Samaritans has been successful.

One young Essex man interviewed previously on the partnership said: “It makes sense for them (Samaritans) to work with Vodafone, because it matches what they do in talking to people and we all use phones. “

The campaign’s concepts this year have been created by Lunar Communications, part of the AMV BBDO advertising group. The campaign with MindShare, is planned to appear on billboards, magazines, beer-mats, newspapers and electronically via the Internet with a viral online including on Samaritans own website www.samaritans.org

The ‘doodle’ concept for the winter campaign, which will run from November 2006 through to March 2007, was selected by the young people interviewed in the Samaritans’ focus groups, as the form of image best representing their thoughts. It was designed by a lecturer.

The focus groups included 16-25 year olds. Some were young men only and some were mixed. The groups were held in Leeds, Essex, Edinburgh, Belfast, Merthyr Tydfil and London.

Samaritans’ aim is to get people needing emotional support to contact its volunteers sooner. This winter, talk to us if you have a problem - Samaritans’ support is there.

Page Created: 15 November 2006