You Got This campaign: Kids look to friends for mental health support
Sydney Roosters star James Tedesco and Australian cricket captain Tim Paine are among a number of star athletes who have sent messages of support and inspiration to this year’s HSC students. WATCH THE VIDEO
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Year 12 students just need to concentrate a bit longer and then they can “raise their bat” and celebrate.
That is the message from Australian cricket captain Tim Paine, who is one of a line-up of top athletes offering messages of support to senior secondary students as they sit their final school exams over the next three weeks.
And it comes as a poll reveals close to half of all Year 12 school students do not feel they are coping well with stress or anxiety.
“I know doing Year 12 can be tough any year but certainly in Year 2020 it has been a whole new level,” Paine said.
“In cricketing terms you are all batting really well, you‘re in the 90s, you just have to concentrate just that little bit longer ... that one big last push to get yourself to a century, raise your bat and share the spoils with your family and friends.
“You have the admiration of the whole Australian cricket team, we’re all behind you and all we ask is you do your best and remember, you got this.”
Every second Year 12 student does not feel good about what is happening in their life and does not think they are dealing with their problems well, according to new research commissioned by alcohol industry-funded responsible drinking organisation DrinkWise.
The poll of 517 school leavers showed 41 per cent are worried about their mental health and 11 per cent are drinking alcohol or smoking to relieve stress and anxiety.
Just 4 per cent of Year 12 students have accessed professional support services and only 15 per cent have reached out to a counsellor or youth worker, even though the majority would feel comfortable seeking professional support for a friend.
Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook credited his sporting success to a willingness to ask for help and urged Year 12 students to do the same.
“For me personally there have definitely been times where I have had to ask for help, and it’s a big reason I am where I am today because I had that support around me — so use it,” Cook said.
“The past 12 months have been difficult for everyone, especially with COVID, and the next 12 months will probably be difficult at times as well.
“If you need to, please ask for help.”
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Of all the challenges presented by the pandemic, Year 12 students struggled most with uncertainty and disruption, fewer social occasions such as eighteenth birthday parties and school formals, fewer personal interactions with teachers and peers, and not as much support for their mental health.
“2020 has seen a lot of changes, disruptions and unpredictability,” Roosters star James Tedesco said in a message to school leavers.
“I know how hard it must have been as a Year 12 but you guys have nearly made it through.
“You have your whole life ahead of you now, a lot of opportunities, you should be excited about that and I am sure you guys will crush it.
“You guys got this.”
DrinkWise has launched its “You Got This” campaign with messages of support for Year 12 students from prominent Australians, which can be accessed at yougotthis.org.au
HSC diary: First exams start Tuesday
The COVID cohort of Year 12 students will sit 350 hours of examinations in the next three weeks.
The Sunday Telegraph spoke to six of the 68,673 HSC students who will sit their first exam at 9.50am on Tuesday, five days later than first scheduled to account for forced school closures between March and May.
Whether students feel prepared and eager or ill-equipped and panicked, all of them are eager to see the back of 120 written exams come November 11.
The results of their work will come through at 6am on December 18.
Hayat Nahas, 17, Bankstown Girls High School:
I feel like I go to sleep every night with a heavy weight on me that I can’t wait to get rid of.
I try to make myself believe I’m not stressed but it’s inevitably there.
Everything went downhill during lockdown and I had to catch up with a lot of work I pushed aside.
I caught up but I know for sure my marks won’t reflect what I’m capable of and I’m pretty sure that’s the same for most students.
My dad lost his job during COVID and took him a while to find another one.
My family is dependant on Dad’s income, so there was stress in the household even though my parents did an amazing job trying to hide it.
I study every day between 11am and 2pm, then again between 5pm and 9pm, but you constantly feel like you’re not doing enough.
In fairness, I need to delete TikTok for a few weeks.
I am nervous, but my university course is secured (Business Administration at Macquarie University).
I am about 85 per cent less stressed because I was offered early entry into university. I am not pulling all-nighters, that’s for sure.
Now my HSC is not about achieving a high mark to get somewhere in life, it’s more about personal pride.
Yanna Gralton, 17, PLC Sydney:
I feel like everyone’s burnt out about now.
The extra week of preparation will do us all good but mentally all my friends just want to get it over and done with.
My cohort has suffered mental ill-health because of COVID-19.
A lot of girls in my year felt overwhelmed by all the change and isolation.
Year 12 is always stressful but we had a lot of things cancelled, constant changes and there was anxiety surrounding all the uncertainty.
I am not as nervous as I thought I would be.
I have an unconditional offer to university, which has halved my HSC stress.
I am still nervous, especially for English, because you never know what they will ask.
I have the first exam (English) and the last exam (Drama). It is going to be an exhausting three weeks and two days.
I just want to get it over with. Let’s do it.
Ai Gen, 18, Nagle College:
A lot of this year didn’t feel real because it was all so uncertain, which has weighed heavily on a lot of us.
Online learning didn’t feel real and a lot of people struggled to motivate themselves.
University open days were cancelled, so next year doesn’t seem real either.
Parents lost jobs and we weren’t able to support each other like we should have.
Even schoolies is very uncertain. I was going to Melbourne with five friends but that won’t happen.
It has been a mentally and emotionally difficult year because of COVID.
There is only 23 more days and then I’m finished with school, and the finish line in sight is my main motivator.
The one thing that is certain is our formal, which will be a week after my final exam. I am looking for formal dresses online during my study breaks.
I have a guaranteed spot at Western Sydney University to study Advanced Nursing, but I am trying as hard as I can to get into my dream course studying optometry at UNSW.
Oscar Iredale, 18, Sydney Secondary College Blackwattle Bay:
I turned 18 on Friday but I didn’t have a party.
You look forward to big 18th birthdays in Year 12 but there hasn’t been any this year.
A lot of people have opted for small dinners with three friends, which is what I will do after exams.
I’m not freaking out about exams or curled up in a ball.
For me, it’s a mixture of excitement to get cracking but also some nerves.
Once English is done, we will feel like we can accomplish anything.
A lot rides on the English exams (Tuesday and Wednesday) and we could get a real curveball question.
Both my parents lost their jobs during COVID but the good news is Mum has an interview with Woolies and Dad got an email saying he will be put back to work later this month. It’s nice to finally have some good news on that front.
COVID had definitely taken a toll on Year 12’s mental health.
Aydin Kilciler, 18, Delany College:
When you come so close to the end, you feel a lot of pressure.
I am not certain I have completely caught up from the five weeks we spent learning from home.
If you asked me a month ago I would say I was nervous but a lot of tension has been relieved because I already got into Western Sydney University to study a Bachelor of Screen Media.
If I do really well in the exams I would prefer to do an IT or engineering degree instead of screen media.
I’d say there’s 75 per cent less stress because my immediate future is guaranteed.
If I do poorly I will say: ‘Oh well’, I already got into university.
Isabella Grigson, 17, Tara Anglican School for Girls:
I wasn’t expecting the HSC to be this hard or mentally draining but COVID has made it much more difficult.
Even people who are normally happy all the time felt stressed this year.
Year 12 was meant to be fun at the beginning before knuckling down for exams but we haven’t had a break from studying all year.
The uncertainty has been difficult to handle but the sense of isolation has been worse.
I will be 18 in the second week of exams but I won’t celebrate. There haven’t been any big 18ths this year, which is so sad.
I have done all the study I can really do to this point, so I am not putting too much pressure on myself for the exams.
I feel when you work hard throughout the whole year you can be secure in what you know.
With only a few days until the first exam I can’t learn anything new, so I’m just doing practice exams to work on time management.
Originally published as You Got This campaign: Kids look to friends for mental health support