All have some form of stress growing up, however some stresses can have serious impacts upon the emotional wellbeing of a child.  They may be subject to conditions such as poverty, hunger, ill health, lack of education, family breakdowns, or experience domestic abuse, sexual abuse or drug abuse.  These often go hand in hand with bullying, violence, loneliness and fear. These lead to emotional conflicts and they see the future as bleak.  Such worries can even lead to mental breakdowns and at worst suicidal feelings.

Whilst the situations above get more attention, there are some situations which students still need support with but are often ignored because they are categorised as 'normal' .  These may be situations where they are finding it difficult to adjust to the next Key Stage in learning, for instance, from GCSE to A-Levels.  Students can often feel afraid of not being able to live up to high expectations and potentially disappoint their parents or teachers.  A quick type of 'University makes me' into the Google search bar unfortunately gives far more negative predictions than positive ones; unhappy, sad, anxious, feel like a failure.

However, the root problem is not always academic, and they simply are finding it difficult to cope because their parents are separating, new to the country or the student feels inadequate because they can't speak English properly.  They may feel insecure because of an accent for instance, especially as they are going through the turbulent difficulties of being a teenager.  At this time children are susceptible to what they see in the media and are very sensitive about other people's opinions of them.  This makes them vulnerable as it can lead to obsessions about body image which has a destructive impact upon their self-confidence leading to eating disorders.

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A New Hope

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A helping hand from someone else can change everything, lead them out of the darkness and help them discover the greatness within themselves.  A helping hand gives hope that somebody cares.  We can do this through mentoring.  Teaching life skills to help them with these challenges alleviate the pressures and build resilience, and opens doors which they feel closed to them. ​

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​Mentoring will provide the thousands of young people growing up in these situations to have people who will listen to them, replace their fears with hope and comfort, and to believe in themselves.  Mentoring gives courage to pursue dreams without fear of judgement, and guidance while following the path to finding solutions to problems.  Simply by paying attention mentors offer the right support to help a child reach emotional stability and become a better person in society, but most importantly, feel valued and able to pursue their dreams.