What do ‘Wellbeing’ and ‘Self-worth’ mean to you?

The general consensus, and the one that’s probably best to use in this short blog post, is ‘Doing well – Feeling good’. But how do we begin to do well, and to feel genuinely good about ourselves, at a time in our lives when we’re going through change and growth? That can be really challenging.

Young Healthwatch, our group of volunteers between the ages of 14-25, have a particular interest in the mental wellbeing of young people. When speaking with them, I often wish that I’d been as knowledgeable and informed when I was a teenager! Then again, I don’t think that this awareness lived in the public consciousness in quite the same way back then…

When the group were considering topics for a new project, we kept coming back to the idea and importance of ‘Self-worth’. The group were concerned that young people have greater access to manufactured images and the narratives of others’ lives than ever before, and that this may have a serious impact on the way that they view themselves.

Young Healthwatch chose self-worth as the topic of our current project because of their concerns that young people with low self-worth can find it hard to cope with the pressures that the expectations school, family, their peer group, and the media can bring. Young Healthwatch thought that those with low self-worth might be more likely to experience mental health issues as they grow up, and may find the ups and downs of life harder to cope with.

National charity Childline said in 2016 that children are ‘plagued by low self esteem and loneliness, due to cyber-bullying, social media influences and the desire to copy celebrities’. Childline provided 35,244 counselling sessions for low self esteem in 2014-15.

We’re asking you to share details of our project far and wide, so that we can gain a better understanding of what self-worth means to the young people of Sheffield. 

We’ve designed a short survey which young people can complete here.

To go along with the survey, we are hosting an Arts competition to get creative responses from Young people, from a range of backgrounds, with the purpose of getting them thinking about self-esteem and the perceptions they have for themselves.

The competition closes on 4th February and the survey closes on 28th February.

We’ve created a video, to promote the project and we’re looking for youth groups to work with – please get in touch if you want to get involved: g.darbyshire@healthwatch.co.uk or 0114 253 6688.

We’re really looking forward to seeing the submissions, and writing up the survey findings into a report, to pull together all the elements of the project.

The Childline website features sources of support and sound advice about building confidence and self-esteem.