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Last week, as part of a suite of youth mental health reforms, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key unveiled plans to roll out the FRIENDS for Life Youth program across all schools, New Zealand wide.

PM Key acknowledged that “more than anyone else, young people will determine the future shape and prosperity of New Zealand”, also recognising the sad reality that “one in five…young people will experience some form of mental health problem during the crucial time that they are transitioning to becoming an adult”.

The New Zealand Ministry of Education notes that the “New Zealand Government has concerns about addressing the growing evidence suggesting that anxiety and depression disorders are among the most common mental health problems affecting New Zealand adolescents.”

Indeed, Australian statistics report alarming similar youth mental illness trends, with suicide taking more Australian lives than all transport accidents combined.

Child and adolescent psychologist, Dr Paula Barrett regards times of transition, such as starting/leaving high school, dealing with family disruptions and developmental and physical changes as precarious and vulnerable times in an adolescents life. She applauds the New Zealand government on their initiative to actively prevent the onset of mental illness in youth. “What a great way to empower youth – with the skill of bouncing back from life’s many challenges”.

The New Zealand Ministry of Education has recognised that “FRIENDS is one of the few effective early intervention and prevention programmes for adolescents that can be used in school settings to prevent anxiety and depression through building resilience. In New Zealand we have identified the need for children and teachers to be taught the learnable skills of resiliency. The FRIENDS programme will support the New Zealand curriculum key competencies for learners; thinking, managing self, relating to others and participating and contributing and supports its vision statement for confident, connected actively involved life-long learners.”

This draws Australian educational practices into light and begs the question, ‘is enough being done to foster social and emotional health in Australian youth?’

Read more about the New Zealand Mental Health initiative here