Esteem

RSE day is a chance to celebrate all the amazing relationships and sex education that is happening in the lives of young people. 

Throughout the pandemic, the amazing members of the Esteem network never stopped finding new and effective ways to support young people. We had members switch to providing live video link lessons; making and delivering mental health care packets for young people; creating brand new video-based RSE resources; and being incredibly flexible in working with local schools if and when the situation allowed for it. 

The pandemic, lockdowns and school closures have had such an impact on young people's emotional wellbeing due to the restrictions on connecting with others and the effect on their schooling.

Esteem emotional wellbeing lessons help students identify and talk about their feelings, and develop coping strategies to help them manage their fears and anxieties.

Without high-quality relationships and sex education, many young people 'learn' about sex from online pornography which is so easily accessible and, unfortunately, we have seen a sharp rise in porn use over the past year during the pandemic as more time has been spent online.

By age 13, 80% of girls are manipulating the pictures they post of themselves online and more screen time, but less connection, during lockdowns has made things worse. According to Young Minds, 67% believe the pandemic will have a long-term negative effect on their mental health with 58% saying the worst thing is feeling lonely and isolated.

In our work with particularly vulnerable youth, children as young as 12 have been victims of child sexual exploitation. Often this is linked to online grooming and gang activity – which have tragically soared during the pandemic.

Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) lessons are really important so young people can be prepared for the changes they will experience in puberty, and be equipped to make wise, informed decisions about relationships and sex.

“Would you forgive me if I lost my battle with life?”

The text came through late in the night and I didn’t pick it up until the morning.

Thankfully, Dara didn’t lose his battle with life that night but he has been battling with negative thoughts for a long time. And these have increased during lockdown when, for almost a year, Dara has been unable to connect with his friends - or anybody other than his immediate family.