Student Empowerment Report

I attended high school in Adelaide and became involved in the schools Peer Leaders program as a part of the MindMatters Youth Empowerment Process (MM YEP).

I developed a project to enhance student wellbeing as part of my formal studies in Year 12. My project was the design and construction of street signs and maps for the schoolyard because school surveys showed that ‘getting lost’ was the issue that most concerned Year 7 and 8 students. This project was quite important, not only helping new students feel more confident but also helping new staff members, visitors and parents visiting the school.

In February 2008, I was employed through Principals Australia as a MindMatters Youth Empowerment Presenter. On 17 April 2008, I co-presented my first Student Empowerment Focus Module in Hobart with Le-ella Doyle (State Project Officer, Tasmania). Thirty students, teachers and other staff members participated.

A highlight of the day was facilitating a discussion with students on what ‘mental health’ and ‘empowerment’ mean. We also looked at the ‘health wheel’ which shows the components that make up health – mental, physical, spiritual, social and emotional. I explained that it is useful to look at these inter-related aspects of health as parts of a wheel because if one component collapses, the whole ‘wheel’ can deflate.

We asked participants what their actions were going to be regarding student empowerment. All students said that they were going to take what they had learned and share it with their school’s leadership group. The adults gave their commitment to supporting students in this action.

Breanna Murphy