Young people get a bad rep

86% of you said in our recent poll that you think the media portrays young people unfairly.

If you do a quick search of a paper like the Daily Mail online you'd definitely be justified in thinking this - search results for 'youth' give you a whole page of headlines in which the only news not referring to 'thugs', violence or fear of young people are the sports headlines.

Do young people have to become football heroes before the press will stop thinking of them as a threat and appreciate their opinions and their talent?

We'd be interested to hear what you think.  

The magazine Children and Young People Now runs the Positive Images Awards for the best positive coverage of young people - and though they're leading a much-needed campaign to improve the way the press report on young people, it's a shame they have to. Many of the winning publications and campaigns are run by young people themselves, suggesting that older journalists writing in the mainstream press still haven't ditched their dim view of young people.

Joel has been working on Get Connected's helpline for about a year. He also finds the time to help a lot of other people in various capacities - not by drawing portraits of them though, as you can probably tell from his picture.

ALOL: Why did you start volunteering?
Joel: I’d never done it before and after uni started to get interested in it – after speaking to a lot of people in the voluntary sector I thought it was something I really wanted to do.

ALOL: Do you remember your first call?
Joel: I remember taking a call from a young woman who had ME and felt like she was a burden to other people. Once I’d given her details of a counselling service in her area, she had to go because the call had tired her out so much.

Click through to the blog to read the rest of Joel's answers.

These are all issues that give young people cause for concern about their mental health, and made mental health the most common reason for young people to contact Get Connected in 2008-09.

It can be a real struggle to voice your thoughts and feelings when it comes to your mental health, especially if you're afraid of people's reactions or don't know exactly why you're feeling the way you do. Which is why self-harm and other mental health worries feature much higher on our webchat and email helplines than they do on our phone helpline - typing is a lot easier than speaking about it. 

We've seen a 38% increase in the number of young people contacting us by email or webchat about mental health issues this year, and we're really glad to have been able to help these young people get confidential, anonymous support. But we know there are a lot of people out there who haven't yet shared their anxieties with anyone - and if you know someone who's trying to cope with self-harm, depression or an eating disorder, please suggest they get in touch with Get Connected.

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