'see me' launches a new young people's campaign- February 2012
We know that we need to start raising people's awareness about mental ill-health when they are young. That is why in the end of February 2012 we will be launching our young people's campaign 'What's on your mind?' to educate 13 -15 year olds about the stigma of mental ill-health and how they can challenge it.
The aim of this campaign is to encourage young people to think about how their behaviour towards someone of their own age with mental ill-health affects that person. We want to encourage young people to think about how they can support their friends who may experience mental ill-health.
At the end of February 'see me' will provide all secondary schools in Scotland with a multi-media resource pack for teachers. It will also be made available to youth workers, youth organisations and anyone working with young people aged 13-15.
The pack, which will also be available online, contains multi-disciplinary lesson plans, a compelling video to facilitate discussion as well as practical information to offer guidance and tips on how to support someone with a mental health problem.
The campaign has been designed to support the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) and help young people to talk about the issues surrounding mental health and stigma.
Watch this space for more information after the launch of the campaign at the end of February.
Information from 'see me's previous Children & Young People's Campaign in available below.
‘see me’ first started developing its Just Like Me campaign in 2003 and we consulted over 1000 young people across Scotland before the first of the ads (Cloud Girl) was launched. The campaign involved young people talking directly about their own experiences of being bullied and stigmatised because of their mental health problems, and the campaign won awards.
The need to address young people’s attitudes to mental ill-health was recognised from the earliest stages of the ‘see me’ campaign. Initial research with a range of national children’s organisations supported the idea of a dedicated young people’s anti-stigma campaign. The campaign aims:
• To challenge young people’s own attitudes and behaviour towards people of all ages with mental health problems.
• To combat the self-stigma that can result in young people not seeking help when they need it.
• To reach other family members through young people
• To promote a better understanding of recovery
• To raise awareness of the issues with professionals working with young people
In this section of the website you can read more about stigma and young people, find out what you can do to challenge stigma, tell us your own experiences of mental health stigma and follow links for more information.
Adults can also read information about how they can help.
Young people have their own campaign website Just Like Me which features the two characters from our ads Cloud Girl and Cloud Boy.