More than 15,000 young people have graduated with improved wellbeing, leadership and mental health skills since South Australian charity Youth Opportunities launched 25 years ago.
Now, with young people facing increasing and unprecedented pressures, the charity is looking to the future—scaling their programs which delivered a 28% reduction in the number of graduates at high risk of developing a mental health disorder last year.
During September, South Australian charity Youth Opportunities is celebrating 25 years since its launch, as well as the graduation of their 15,000th student.
At a time when people young people are in crisis, the preventative, evidence-based personal leadership program is working. In 2021-22, Youth Opportunities personal leadership program delivered a 28% reduction in the number of graduates at high risk of developing a mental health disorder.
The program was originally developed for corporate settings and was used as a management training tool to increase employees’ motivation for their work, both individually and as a team.
After seeing employees reach beyond their perceived capabilities and grow significantly in job responsibilities as a result of the program, founder and developer Peter Marshman OAM soon realised the benefit it could have on school-aged participants and founded Youth Opportunities Association (SA) Inc.
“It was unprecedented at the time. But we knew that if it could help adults, it could have a profound impact on young people too,” Mr Marshman said.
“The first school-based Personal Leadership Program was delivered in 1998 to Year 10 students at Salisbury High School. It had an instant impact and was quickly rolled out to other schools across metropolitan and regional South Australia.
“25 years ago, we used some of the psychological theories we still use today—encouraging the students to think about the ‘stars’ and ‘black holes’ in the context of their own lives- black holes representing the self-talk or negativity that brings them and others down and stars representing positivity, the things that inspire them and give them hope.
“While our evidence base and methodology has evolved in sophistication over the years, that basic philosophy of ‘stars and black holes’ still forms part of our program today and are just as relevant today. In fact, they’re probably more relevant given the challenges young people are facing.
“Over the past 25 years, we’ve continued to develop and refine our programs, drawing on the latest research in positive psychology, neuroscience and youth development.
“We couldn’t be more proud of the young people who have graduated from our programs. They are our reason for being and they continue to inspire us every day,” Mr Marshman said.
25 years on, the Personal Leadership Program has been delivered in 98 schools around Australia, changing the lives almost 15,000 young people– positively impacting their schools, families and communities.
However, with only 0.3% of young people nationally reached last year, and only 4% of young South Australians, there is still plenty of work to do, according to Youth Opportunities Chief Executive Erin Faehrmann.
“We know that our programs are proven to reduce mental health, but we also know that there are still so many young people out there who need our help,” Erin said.
“The latest National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing released in July by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that around 1.1 million (39.6 per cent) of young adults aged 16-24 years experienced a mental disorder in 2020-21.
“Almost half (46.6 per cent) of young females and one third (31.2 per cent) of young males aged 16-24 years identified as having a mental disorder in 2020-21, with anxiety disorders being the most common type of disorder among young females and males.
“We know a young person born in 2006 has gone through a pandemic with disrupted schooling and social isolation, a cost-of-living and financial crisis, war in Europe, and a world coming to terms with the magnitude of climate change.
“Let alone the everyday worries of self-image, social media, friendship groups, gender identity, and sexuality. So, as we reflect on 25 incredible years with schools and celebrate our more than 15,000 graduates, we also know that there is so much more work to do.
“We are only scratching the surface in terms of the numbers of young people we are able to reach and we know that there are many more out there who need our help”.
