Supporting the emotional wellbeing of young people in Scotland
2020
Supporting the emotional wellbeing of young people in Scotland
At Young Scot, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve been publishing quality-assured information for young people about how to stay safe. We’ve also been sharing information about mental health and how to support others in the community. We’ve published this information on the digital spaces that young people spend their time in – Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
Early in the pandemic, with the support of our partners, we surveyed 2,500 young people to get a clear picture of the impact COVID-19 is having on them. The results identified that more than three-quarters of young people were concerned about their mental wellbeing. In response, the Scottish Government kindly supported us to launch our #AyeFeel website.
#AyeFeel is a curated collection of information and resources that support young people’s emotional wellbeing. The site and its content help young people to understand that it’s perfectly normal to be dealing with fear, uncertainty, anger or sadness during difficult circumstances. It contains quality-assured information, expert advice and content made for young people by young people. It covers topics such as how to improve sleep, managing stress, productive ways to spend time online and coping with conflict.
During the summer, we hosted our ‘#AyeFeel Like Talking’ video conversations. We partnered with Sleep Scotland, Childline, Beat, Skills Development Scotland and YWCA Scotland and put young people’s questions to a range of experts. The video series also included a back to school episode where members of our #YSHealth panel of young people put questions to teachers about what school might look like when they return.
Our team is currently planning series two that will launch later in 2020. We are crowdsourcing content ideas by asking young people what they want to hear about via our Instagram Stories. Also, we will be working with Intercultural Youth Scotland and providing emotional wellbeing resources to support young BIPOC Scots. We’ll also be working with disability organisations and publishing resources that support young people with learning disabilities. To find out more, check out the hash #AyeFeel on social media or look at young.scot/campaigns/national/aye-feel
As Scotland continues to move out of the lockdown restrictions, we remain committed to responding to the immediate and evolving information needs of young people – helping them navigate this period of enormous turmoil.
