An insight into how west of Ireland teenagers are coping with life during Covid-19 will be revealed next week when the findings of a new Planet Youth survey are published.
Over 5,000 teenagers in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon were surveyed last December to ascertain the nature of their lives during these challenging times.
The 15 and 16-year olds from 91 secondary schools in the three counties participated in the survey by Planet Youth, a primary prevention initiative that aims to enhance young people’s health and wellbeing and assist them in achieving their full potential.
"We carried out the first Planet Youth survey in 2018, and we have now completed this second one with the current group of 15 and 16 year-olds," said Emmet Major, Planet Youth.
"One of the nice findings of the survey is that 88 per cent of our teenagers report that they find it easy to receive caring and warmth from their parents. That’s a massive endorsement of parents and families in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon and we can see in the data that parental monitoring and supervision are really high also.
"It’s not all good news though, 41 per cent of the teens tell us they are not getting enough sleep and this is worrying because lack of sleep can cause or exacerbate other mental and physical health issues. It is also a big increase from two years ago. We can see a negative trend in quite a few areas and that’s almost certainly being caused by the restrictions the young people are living with.
"Another finding in the survey is that 30 per cent of those surveyed say they have self-harmed at least once in their lives. While this figure might shock some people, we take the view that it is important to have this information out in the open so we can inform prevention initiatives.
"The teens also told us a lot about their substance use behaviour and how and where they get access to alcohol and other drugs. It will all be in the report and we’re encouraging people to come along to the launch for a look."
The report will be launched online on Monday, April 26, from 12pm to 12.45pm, with guests Frank Feighan, Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Public Health, Well Being and National Drugs Strategy, and Anne Rabbitte, Minister of State at the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with responsibility for Disability. Anyone interested in attending the launch can register here: planetyouth.ie/the-lives-of-our-young-people/
