By: Diya Deepum, Knowledge Mobilizers, HYI Volunteer
Sept 15, 2021
Hi, my name is Diya Deepu, and I’m a member of the Halton Youth Initiative!
I work with a team of dedicated members to help the children and youth in our Halton community.
The Halton Youth Initiative has created a ‘Youth Hangout Survey’ which surveys the youth in Halton on their interest in participating in their communities and how it has changed because of the pandemic. Most survey respondents are from the Oakville area, while a small percentage are from the Georgetown area, and the rest of the respondents are from Burlington and Milton.
The first set of questions were about youth’s willingness in attending online/in-person events like community events, virtual game nights, picnics, tournaments, and support groups. Based on the results, about 80.4% of survey respondents are interested in attending online events and about 89.6% are interested in in-person events.
The next set of questions were about the mental health of our youth. Over the past 1 ½ years, our lives have changed drastically because of the pandemic. Our youth have gone through a lot both mentally and physically, in terms of schooling, socialization, and activities. We asked youth about things like how they would rate their current mental health, and how the pandemic has changed their interests and needs. 85% of the respondents so far have stated that they are okay-very happy, while the remaining 15% are not in a good state of wellbeing. The responses from another question showed that most youth were having a hard time coping with the pandemic. Friendships, connections, and interests in extracurricular activities such as sports have been affected. Youth feel a longing to socialize with people face-to-face, and were tired of contacting people through social media (virtually). The youth have made some suggestions on the types of mental health support that they are in need of right now. These suggestions include:
Creating youth groups/spaces where they can share things and support each other.
Create anonymous and accessible ways for youth to seek support. For example chatrooms, access to social workers, etc.
Mandate mental health training for teachers, admin, and other community staff so they can provide support to students in need.
Check out our infographic on the results we’ve received so far below.
