Latest news with #youthsuicide
ABC News
6 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
Basketball team resurrected to help build kids' dreams in remote WA town of Leonora
Most nights in Leonora are filled with the sound of basketballs hitting the concrete. It's the sound of a small outback town coming back from adversity. About 800 kilometres east of Perth, Leonora has many problems: limited opportunities, crime and high rates of youth suicide. It also has one basketball team, the Blazers. The Blazers were resurrected by Rene Reddingius, affectionately called "Pop" by Leonora children, who high-five him when they see him in the streets. He runs the basketball program with the help of his partner Shelley. Almost a decade ago, six Aboriginal youth took their own lives over an 18-month period in the town of about 1,500 people. So in 2017, Rene — a Pirni man — left his job with the WA Commissioner for Children and Young People to return to his country, the Goldfields, to make a change. "We were the hotspot for the world," Rene said. Rene knew what pain felt like, "having a hell of a time trying to survive 2004", after recovering from an attack. "I survived by coming to my country at my darkest hour," he said. "On my country … contemplating my future, I ended up walking back into camp, and I've become the man that I am today, and I will always walk with strong sense of purpose." And it's that sense of purpose that he wants to help young people on his country to find. Resurrecting the old Blazers team, which he founded in 1991, gives Rene a way to reach them. He says the majority of children in the remote Goldfields town are "at risk", often facing additional socio-economic challenges, but that shouldn't limit or determine what they can achieve. Rene says there's no "miracle work', it's just about giving children the skills, strength and support to make the best choices for themselves. "You've got to do the actions that will make the difference, the choices at the crossroads," he said. "It's: 'Don't jump in that stolen car, driven by your cousin'. It's: 'Don't take that substance that's been offered at the party by your boyfriend.'" The basketball program has given a new direction to the lives of many Leonora children, such as captain Amber Thomas. She lived in the neighbouring ghost town of Gwalia and used to walk one hour into town for "muck-up games" when the program restarted. Amber had a full house where she was "like a big sister to her big sisters," and a full head. "Pop" Rene and the Blazers became her second family. "He's my safe space when I don't have a safe space," Amber said. On the basketball court she stopped saying "I can't do it" and, now a youth worker, she's guiding other teens, just a little younger than her. "Push through and see how far you can get," she said. Blazers look up to Amber and the other captain, McKye Blake, who's also her partner. "When the kids think about what a healthy relationship looks, they think like Amber and McKye," she smiles. McKye used to get in trouble, but staying in the team helped him stay in school and he's now an apprentice boilermaker. Being a role model "puts a lot of pressure" on McKye, who has to "act like a leader". But basketball has taught him pressure can shape character. "Going into these areas we don't feel comfortable. Like, going through, helps you become better," McKye said. The Blazers' training starts without Rene, with the children taking it upon themselves to lead the warm-up session. Anyone who's late, including Rene himself, runs laps. It's about accountability but also hard work. "If you have the bar low, people can fall over it." Every Blazer player is expected to set and achieve goals, cheered on, and held accountable, by the entire team. It's something Leonora mother Naomi Sprigg dos Santos appreciates. "I think it's vital for children who come from trauma and often times dysfunction to know that life can be predictable and to have a routine," she said. "Rene offers that in the program. There is a predictability about his training, there's a predictability about his expectations." Ms Sprigg dos Santos thinks relationships play a huge part in the success he's having. For Rene, the "life-skill program" must try to engage families, and the whole community. "They have shared memories, and instead of dropping a kid off at a program, you can go and do stuff with them," he said. Wongai grandmother Samantha Banks is an ex-basketball player and current supporter, touring with the team when she can to see her grandchildren playing. "It keeps us all together, me, the kids," she said. "My nana comes and watches me play, cheers me on and makes me confident," Aliahky smiles shyly. Ms Banks said basketball was teaching her grandchildren how to want to be on time, organised, but, most importantly, on the right path. "He can take his little anger or whatever on the courts," she said. It is one positive message, reinforced on the court, at school, and at home, that Rene wants children to internalise. The Blazers have been touring the state. Rene says they are big opportunities for small-town children, and their peers who have fallen through the cracks are taking notice. But if the basketball program is taking them places, it's because it's a grassroots movement. Rene's father, who's also called Rene, but is better known as "Sir", taught four generations of Leonora youth. "They respond to you as the relationship you've built," he says. Families, the shire CEO and the school principal say having familiarity and continuity makes the program more successful than anything that could be offered by a visiting service. Choosing to return to his home town and stay, Rene has helped it to bounce back. Even if he decides to leave, the once under-confident Amber is ready to step up. "My dreams and hopes for Blazers is, let me just say, me working for them, being a big boss of Blazers," she smiled. "One day, I will get there."
CBC
27-05-2025
- General
- CBC
This group walked nearly 400 kilometres to raise awareness about bullying, violence in First Nations
Josh Nanokeesic's mother says she doesn't want anyone else to suffer the same way he did, which is what motivated her to walk nearly 400 kilometres from Sioux Lookout, Ont., to Thunder Bay. Nanokeesic was 16 years old when he was severely bullied, beaten and died of his injuries in 2015 in Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, a remote community also known as Big Trout Lake. Three teens were charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault in connection with the incident. A decade later, Nanokeesic's uncle, Steven Morris, led the third and final Bullying Awareness Walk in his memory. "I decided to help him on this walk this time," said Roseann Thomas, Nanokeesic's mother. "Trying to stop bullying because too many kids have been [lost] already through suicide, and they're being bullied by other peers." About a dozen walkers, representing Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and Kingfisher Lake First Nation, participated in the two-week journey, carrying signs with photos of Nanokeesic and a list of names of other First Nation members who lost their lives to bullying and violence. The walk was sponsored by Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Dibenjikewin Onaakonikewin (KIDO), also known as KI Family Law. It ended at Thunder Bay City Hall on Monday, followed by a community gathering. In a Facebook post, KIDO applauded the family's efforts to support First Nations youth. "Steven Morris, first walked from Sioux to Thunder Bay so Roseann could be by Josh's side in the hospital and again in 2016 for awareness. This third and final journey, sponsored by KIDO, is about healing, remembrance, and building compassion and understanding." Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), a political territorial organization which represents 49 First Nations across Treaties 9 and 5, also recognized the walkers online. "After two powerful weeks on foot, the Bullying Awareness Walk from Sioux Lookout to Thunder Bay has come to a close," NAN said on Facebook on Monday."Miigwetch to everyone who has shown support along the way." While this year's event marks the family's final walk, Thomas said she wants to make sure her son is always remembered. "We're raising awareness," she said.
RNZ News
22-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Misleading figures on New Zealand youth suicide rates
Photo: Unsplash / Traveler Geek Last week, a UNICEF report grabbed headlines with claims that our youth suicide rate was three times higher than the international average for high-income countries. Two researchers from the University of Auckland, who are experts in youth mental health, say that figure is wrong. The global charity's report on child wellbeing came out last Wednesday, with New Zealand ranking the lowest of 36 countries for mental wellbeing. The graph attracting the most attention was the one on youth suicide rates, in which New Zealand outranked all other countries, with a rate of 17.1 per 100,000 15-to-19-year-olds. "This is our whole world, this research, so we know what the data looks like for New Zealand," associate professor Sarah Hetrick told The Detail . "We just knew when we saw it that it wasn't correct." The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice collectively supply figures on suicide. In New Zealand, the coroner must determine whether a death was by suicide, before it can be recorded as confirmed. That's why the suicide web data tool displays both confirmed and suspected figures. Associate professor Sarah Fortune, who is the director for population mental health at University of Auckland, explained the difference. "The first one is called confirmed deaths, so that tells us that the circumstances of that person's death have been reviewed by the coroner and have been recorded as being a suicide death," she said. "Then we have suspected cases, which indicates that that situation is still open to the coroner." The UNICEF Report Card 19 analysed trends in youth suicide using only data on confirmed suicide rates. Because countries have different processes and timeframes around releasing this data, UNICEF calculated each country's average based on the figures from the three most recent years available. For New Zealand, that meant data from 2018-20 was used and about a third of the other countries were the same, but we did have more recent suspected suicide rates. That data said in the financial year of 2021/22, the rate was 12.3. The most recent figures from 2023/24 showed the rate dropped to 11.8. While suspected and confirmed rates weren't comparable, Hetrick said the confirmed rates did tend to follow the trend set out by the suspected rates. Averaging out figures to 'smooth fluctuations' isn't uncommon, so the figures in the report weren't necessarily wrong - but they did contradict the declining rate of suspected suicides during that period. UNICEF Aotearoa's Tania Sawicki Mead said the report wasn't attempting to make things look worse than they were. "In order to make a useful comparison between countries, the report uses like-for-like data in order to make sure that there is a genuinely useful comparator about how countries are doing over that timeframe," she said. "We are really keen to understand what the long-term trends are for youth suicide to understand if what we are doing is working." Hetrick worried this report promoted headlines and discussion about declining youth wellbeing that contributed to the hopeless narrative, which wasn't helpful for youth who were struggling. "The risk is that young people particularly will hear wellbeing's not going so great and suicide's going up, and pairing those two things together, as though somehow suicide is an inevitable consequence of poor wellbeing, is a very dangerous message." Another issue Hetrick immediately had with the report was that suicide was one of only two indicators used to measure mental wellbeing. "We would very strongly say that, while mental health can be a contributor, that the two things are not equivalent. There are many, many, many more things about a young person's life and the environment in which they live that impacts on wellbeing." Hetrick said other data, like that in the Youth2000 series, looked at several different indicators that contributed to youth wellbeing, some of which showed things were improving. "For sure, some things are not as good as they were, but some things have improved, so I think there was a fundamental problem even with using suicide data as one of only two indicators of youth wellbeing." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
Irish Times
14-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Irish teens rank in bottom half in developed world for wellbeing
Irish teenagers are in the bottom half for wellbeing in high-income countries despite leading in academic performance, the latest report by Unicef has found. The report – Report Card 19: Child Wellbeing at Risk in an Unpredictable world – compares the wellbeing of children across 43 countries in the EU and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Of these, Ireland ranks 24th for adolescent wellbeing, placing it in the bottom half globally. Drawing on official data and offering analysis, the study also reveals Ireland's youth suicide rate to be above the international average, standing at 6.4 per 100,000. 'These findings are stark,' said Peter Power, executive director of Unicef Ireland. READ MORE 'Ireland's teens are succeeding in school, but struggling in life. We must match our investment in academic achievement with the same urgency for mental and emotional wellbeing,' he added. Nearly one in three 15-year-olds in Ireland reported low life satisfaction, while analysis from 2018 to 2022 indicates declining life satisfaction in adolescents across 22 of 26 countries with available data. Unicef pointed to the role of school closures and widespread social isolation during this period due to the Covid-19 pandemic in disconnecting adolescents from critical support systems. 'The pandemic has deepened existing inequalities, setting a troubling precedent for children's wellbeing – particularly among those from disadvantaged and marginalised backgrounds,' said Aibhlin O'Leary, head of advocacy at Unicef Ireland. 'To respond meaningfully, we need a unified, child-centred strategy that tackles these disparities head-on and supports every child, at every stage of their development.' Also highlighting physical health risks, the report found that more than one in four children and adolescents in Ireland are overweight or obese. Unicef Ireland has called on the Government to take targeted actions to protect child wellbeing, including increasing investment in school mental health services and reducing waiting times for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), improving school meals and strengthening digital resilience within the Junior Cycle curriculum.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
UK has poor ranking for child wellbeing and teenage happiness
The UK ranks near the bottom of a league table for child wellbeing and teenage happiness, according to a global report. The Unicef study found children in general across the world are more likely to underperform at school, be obese and feel unhappy than several years ago. When compared to other high-income countries, the UK ranks 21 out of 36 for child wellbeing, while countries such as France, Spain and Portugal rank near the top. Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary also rank above the UK, while the Netherlands and Denmark retain their position as the top two places to be a child. Elsewhere, the UK is in the bottom third of countries on child mental health (27 out of 36), while teenage life satisfaction sees the UK scoring joint second from last (tied with Chile, with only Turkey scoring lower). In the UK, the percentage of teens reporting high life satisfaction fell from 64% in 2018 to 62% in 2022, with girls much more likely to report unhappiness than boys. Frequency of talking with parents had a strong positive link with satisfaction, while frequency of being bullied had a major negative effect. Researchers said rates of frequent bullying 'remain high' in the UK and are the third highest among high income countries, with 27% of 15-year-olds experiencing frequent bullying in both 2018 and 2022. The UK youth suicide rate has also increased in recent years, rising from a three-year average of four per 100,000 population aged 15 to 19 in 2018 to 5.12 in 2022. Elsewhere, the UK is in the middle third of countries for physical health (22 out of 41) and 15 out of 41 for social skills and academic proficiency. Furthermore, more than 30% of children were overweight in 2022, above the rich country average of 28%. Between the ages of two and five, the average UK toddler gets 61% of their calories from ultra-processed food, much higher than children in other countries including the US, the report also found. There is also a higher proportion of sugar in infant food pouches in the UK than other countries, and 'persistent marketing' of unnecessary toddler/growing up milks which are high in sugars. Overall, the Unicef 'report card' found that children in many of the world's wealthiest countries have seen a decline in their mental wellbeing, physical health and academic performance between 2018 and 2022, a time also covering the Covid pandemic. Dr Philip Goodwin, chief executive of the United Kingdom Committee for Unicef, said: 'The latest figures from Unicef's report card give us a deeply concerning insight into just how much UK children are struggling. 'Our teenagers are reporting some of the lowest life satisfaction levels, which must be a wake-up call for the Government. 'However, action to tackle these issues is not coming fast enough. 'The UK Government's comprehensive spending review next month must show it is serious about improving the lives of children by addressing the record numbers living in poverty and investing in essential health and education services to support children right from the very start of their lives.' Unicef warned of a 'polycrisis' facing children across the globe, such as the ongoing impact of the Covid pandemic, climate change and developments in digital technology. Researchers concluded that, in many wealthy countries, children are 'becoming less happy with their lives, more likely to be overweight and obese, and are not doing well at school'. The report card specifically examined teen life satisfaction aged 15 and adolescent suicide between the ages of 15 and 19. On skills, it looked at academic proficiency (aged 15) and social skills (aged 15). A Government spokesperson said: 'This government is investing an extra £680 million in mental health services this year, to help recruit 8,500 more mental health workers and put mental health support in every school. 'We are also tackling obesity head on by blocking new fast-food outlets near schools and cracking down on junk food adverts on TV and online to protect young children. 'We are developing an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, introducing free breakfast clubs in every primary school and driving up standards in schools through our new regional improvement teams.'
