AN inspiring program aimed at empowering young people is helping to change lives and provide a pathway to happiness.
Youth Opportunities – a not-for-profit organisation – is rolling out a 10-week program in regional schools to support young people who face an increasing number of complex issues.
These include mental health, family breakdowns, lack of self-esteem and motivation as well as drug and alcohol pressures.
South East program trainer Sarah Milne – who attended a recent Grant District Council meeting – said the program was driving an upswing in school retention rates and improvements in learning outcomes.
Ms Milne said the program built engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectivity and happiness within the student cohort.
“The 2018 results showed at the beginning of our program in this region, 40.6pc of young people were in a severe psychological distress category,” she revealed.
“At the end of the program, those numbers went down to 15.4pc in the same category.
“This a dramatic drop particularly for these young students, which is fantastic.”
While acknowledging the statistics were encouraging, Ms Milne said they did not indicate the program’s broader impact on families, schools and the wider community.
“The principals that have supported the program for over a decade will tell you the school culture actually shifts when we get half of the Year 10 students into our program,” Ms Milne said.
She said the program also improved students’ relationship with parents and ultimately “the community benefits from this change”.
“This year we are providing even more support to students and families with an enhanced family engagement initiative through the introduction of a program called Project 360,” the trainer said.
“We know our program delivers the social and emotional capabilities to ensure well-being.”
Ultimately, the program helps address society’s key concerns including unemployment, mental health and offending.
“As a trainer I have the privilege of working with these students everyday – seeing them overcome their obstacles gives me the passion and the drive to get up everyday to make a difference,” Ms Milne said.
“Last year I worked with a student who lost his father and his best friend to suicide within a few weeks of each other.
“He was disengaged, disempowered and had no direction in his life.
“After completing the course, he stood up and stated ‘Youth Opportunities saved my future’ – which is pretty powerful.
“As a local in my community, I am pretty passionate about the program.
“It is empowering young people to take personal responsibility for their own life, no matter what the circumstances are.
“They can decide to be happy and they can decide to have the future they want.”
Youth Opportunities funds the program via fundraising and contributions from schools.
“89pc of (students) contacted after graduation were either employed or in further education,” Ms Milne said.
With every $1 spent on the program, the return back to the community is estimated at $8.
South East schools participating include the Mount Gambier, Grant, Millicent and Penola high schools, with the program targeting Year 10 students.
The concept was originally developed for businesses as a management tool to increase employees’ motivation for their work, both individually and as a team.
