School pressure and homework top issues facing young people in county

School pressure and homework followed by vaping have been identified as the top issues facing young people in County Roscommon.

The issues were identified at Roscommon Comhairle na nÓg’s (RCNN) Annual Youth Conference (AYC) at Castlerea Enterprise Hub.

School pressure and homework will now be the Comhairle’s focus of work for 2024.

The Comhairle event was hosted by Roscommon County Council, coordinated by Youth Work Ireland Midlands, planned, and facilitated by the members of Roscommon Comhairle na nÓg.

Comhairle na nÓg are local councils for children and young people, aged 12–17, that give them a voice on the development of local policies and services. They are the recognised key national structure for participation by children and young people in local decision-making in all 31 local authorities of Ireland.

The key objectives of a Comhairle na nÓg AYC are to identify issues affecting young people in their local authority area; prioritise identified issues to inform CNN’s work for the following year; present the last year of CNN’s work to young people and local decision makers; recruit new members.

Ninety delegates from youth organisations and all nine secondary schools participated in workshops on issues affecting young people in County Roscommon. The issues discussed were determined by RCNN’s ‘Issues Affecting Young People’ online survey, which was circulated to all schools and youth organisations in the county in the four-week period prior to the AYC. The five main issues affecting young people in County Roscommon, informed RCNN’s ‘World Café’ workshop discussions. The topics identified by young people were vaping, school pressure/ homework, peer pressure/ bullying, mental health/stress; and phone/social media.

The event was addressed by Cllr John Keogh, Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council and included a recorded video message from Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, MEP. Both commended the work of Roscommon Comhairle na nÓg and urged young people to remain actively involved in community and civic life in Roscommon.

The delegation was divided into 10 groups for the ‘World Café’ workshop on the issues affecting young people. Each group moved around the workshop tables until every young person had the opportunity to give their views on every issue. The discussions were facilitated by a Roscommon Comhairle na nÓg member, with an adult co-facilitator present at each table for support. After the ‘World Café’ workshop, the young people read the prioritised feedback and voted for the main issue affecting young people in County Roscommon. The results of the vote were: 1st, school pressure/homework; 2nd, vaping; 3rd, mental health/stress. This vote identified ‘school pressure and homework’ as Roscommon Comhairle na nÓg’s work topic for 2024.

Roscommon Comhairle na nÓg would like to sincerely thank the following for their continued engagement with and support with this event: guest speakers Cllr John Keogh, MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, all post primary schools and youth organisations in Roscommon for their participation and continued engagement with Comhairle na nÓg, Roscommon County Council’s local representatives, Youth Work Ireland Midlands, the steering committee for their ongoing support and guidance, Roscommon County Council’s Community & Enterprise Department, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth, Comhairle na nÓg’s Participation Office, Tusla, Roscommon Children and Young Peoples Services Committee, An Garda Síochána Community Garda, Foroige, Roscommon Youth Service, Roscommon LEADER Partnership, Roscommon Sports Partnership, Music Generation, McDermott School of Dance, Lili Percussion, Youth Work Ireland Leitrim and Roscommon Volunteer Centre.