From my perspective as both a parent and a professional who has worked closely with young people I am very supportive of any iniative which challenges the current system.

Personally I have three daughters who have completed year 12 and one daughter who is currently in Yr 12.

Professionally I have lost count of the number of young people in year 11 & 12 who have expressed their stress and indeed distress at the seemingly ever increasing workload including the vast array of assessment pieces.

My eldest daughter is currently studying at a Masters level and I would venture to say that she finds the workload more realistic than my daughter in Year 12.

It saddens me to see the effect that this stress is having not only in this developmentally significant  phase of their lives but potentially the ongoing and sometimes insidious effects which may go unnoticed until they raise their head as fully blown mental health issues.

I do not believe that this is alarmist but rather my observations of what I have seen first hand and what has been shared with me by young people themselves.

Our young people are a precious and unique asset both within our families and our community. It behoves us to tread carefully and rather then set them up for potential burnout to instead skill them with an intellectual curiosity and emotional resilience which sets them on a pathway to become both enthusiastic life long learners and compassionate, wise members of our global community.

I recently had a conversation with a teacher who stated that she no longer had time to have a relationship with her students. This struck a deep chord at the time and I wondered what this may actually mean. There seemed to me to be a great sense of loss in this statement. Indeed something to reflect upon.

Jennifer McMahon
B Health and Community Service, Major in Counselling