{"id":408,"date":"2022-08-12T09:08:11","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T08:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phsi-edi\/?p=408"},"modified":"2022-08-15T11:00:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T10:00:02","slug":"international-youth-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/phsi-edi\/2022\/08\/12\/international-youth-day\/","title":{"rendered":"International Youth Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The United Nations International Youth Day <\/a>is commemorated every year on 12 August,<\/strong> bringing youth issues to the attention of the international community and celebrating the potential of youth as partners in today\u2019s global society. The theme this year is Intergenerational solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em>which aims to amplify the message that action is needed across all generations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It also aims to raise awareness on certain barriers to intergenerational solidarity<\/em><\/strong>, notably ageism, which impacts young and old persons, while having detrimental effects on society as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Health Organsiation <\/a>defines ageism as \u201cthe stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) directed towards others or oneself, based on age<\/em>\u201d. Young people continue to <\/span>report<\/a> age-related barriers in various spheres of their lives such as employment, political participation, health and justice. On an individual level, these age-related obstacles can deeply impact wellbeing and livelihoods not only during the youth years, but also in adulthood. <\/span>On a societal level, ageism prevents us from thinking and designing policies and social services that adopt a life-course approach and are fair for all ages.   <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To mark International Youth Day, the PHSI EDI Committee caught up with PHSI colleagues, Dr Laura Basterfield<\/a>, Senior Research Associat<\/strong>e and Dr Steph Scott<\/a>, Lecturer in Public Health and Qualitative Methods<\/strong> about their experiences working with children and young people (CYP) in their research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr Laura Basterfield<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Can you tell us about your research involving young people?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started working on the Gateshead Millennium Study (GMS) in 2006, when the children in that birth cohort were 6-7 years old. We visited most of the children at their school for that project, so I\u2019ve been to all 70+ primary schools in Gateshead, and again when they were 9! I was measuring physical activity, body composition, health-related behaviours and a host of psychological measures. We followed the children in the GMS until they were 18 years old, so it was a real privilege to catch up with them every couple of years. I also started my own research into children\u2019s physical fitness and mental wellbeing, which has led to really interesting findings on the impact of the Covid lockdowns. I\u2019ve recently embarked on my first secondary school fitness project which I\u2019m excited about; the older pupils will be peer-mentors for the younger pupils, so I was talking to them all and asking their views and ideas to help shape the intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos from the Gateshead Millennium Study taken 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2015. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What has been your best experience(s) of working with young people?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made a film in 2021 with Year 6 pupils at Walkergate Community School and a local theatre company, Mortal Fools. Initially the idea had been for the young people to create an assembly that would feed back the results of my fitness research, as they had all been involved in it, but then covid interrupted things and delayed it by a year.  The delay ultimately resulted in a much better film, as the young people wanted to talk about how the lockdowns had impacted both their physical and mental health. I was able to watch the process as the Mortal Fools facilitators guided the young people, and helped them to arrange their ideas and thoughts into a coherent structure. The ideas they came up with were much better than anything I could have done! More importantly, the young people enjoyed the experience of being in control of what they discussed and presented, and were thoroughly professional. It was also loads of fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final \u2018Young Science Communicators\u2019 film:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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