Some participating students at the Inspire Minds Conference participating students at the Inspire Minds Conference |
Some teenagers have said that excessive and uncontrolled use of social media by teenagers can lead to mental health issues.
They mentioned this on Wednesday in Abuja at a conference on
Mental Health Awareness for Teenagers, organised by Inspire Minds Education
Foundation.
According to the teenagers, addiction to social media can
lead to no or less time for them to study or do other things that are
beneficial to them or lead them to pornographic sites.
Drawn from different secondary schools in Abuja, the
participants also said that depression could come as a result of seeing things
on social media that they could not attain.
They added that depression could also come from seeing the
fake lives some people live that they would want to have at all costs.
They, however, said that reduced time on social media to
focus on studying, engaging with their peers and others constructively and
parental guidance could help teenagers to avoid the pitfalls of mental health
issues.
Miss Victory Ekong, teenage ambassador for the foundation
said anxiety, depression, constant pressure on a teenager are things that can
lead to mental health for teenagers.
Aparticipating student at the Inspire Minds Conference participating students at the Inspire Minds Conference |
She also said that apart from social media, issues from homes, school and the society at large could lead to mental health issues.
She, however, said that through interventions and workshops
by the foundation, she had been made to understand that having a stable mental
health is paramount to a teenager’s wellbeing.
She added that “I have also been made to understand that
teenagers need attention and mental health is not something you joke with; it
is actually a more serious matter than people think it is.
“I am more stable in my mental health now because I am aware
that it is a natural condition and I try to avoid issues that may lead to
mental health breakdown.”
Mrs Constance Egwuatu, a professional Child and Adolescent
Counsellor and one of the facilitators at the conference, said many young
people now battle with mental health issues.
She added that they could not talk about the mental health
issues for fear of stigma or being perceived as having spiritual issues.
She said that many did not even know what exactly was wrong
with them because they did not seek help for depression.
“Some isolate themselves and begin to have suicidal thoughts
or engage in vices.
“Some are being raped or abused and they go through a lot of
things. So, these mental health issues should be a concern, especially for all
our young people, children and teenagers.
“We should mind what we say or what we do around them and
what we do to them and we should also encourage the children to begin to talk
to us or talk to counsellors who can help them.
“However, it should start from home so the awareness really
should start from home so parents can know what to look out for in the children
to detect if something is wrong with them.”
About social media, she said contents being created should
be responsible so that teenagers could learn from them rather than causing them
harm.
Egwuatu said that social media should not just be about
getting followers but should also serve as veritable tool to guide them
appropriately.
She advised parents to give the needed attention to the
young ones to encourage them, adding that attention broken at home could make
them run to others to get it which might be disastrous.
“That is why I tell teachers and parents that they should
not aggravate the problems of the children. They need to be understood; don’t
push them to the social media.
“When you don’t give them what they need, social media is
there with different kinds of content.”
Mrs Rosemary Uwaleme, the Founder of the foundation, said
that the conference was aimed at creating awareness, reducing stigma and
mitigating social vices.
According to her, mental health issues in Nigeria were not
taken seriously which has led to many cases of suicide even among teenagers.
“Today we hear of different cases of suicide, they started
from somewhere.
“So we need to create awareness for people to know what
these issues are, know when they need to speak to someone about problems that
they have, so that they can avoid getting into such problems.
“Now bringing teenagers into this, many teenagers don’t like
to talk about their problems, so you have to make talking about mental health
with them be like a normal language, just like you speak English.
“In Nigeria when you say mental health people think you are
talking about madness.
“So the aim of this organisation is to create mental health
awareness so that we can cope with cases like depression, abuse, and all sorts
of mental health issues.
“We want to create that awareness and help young people to
be able to communicate freely about their problems.”
Uwaleme said that this could be achieved through
sensitisation and counselling programmes for young people.
She said that the foundation also provided financial support
for the teenagers when necessary.
She added the foundation also partners with the State
Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Universal Basic Education
Commission (UBEC) to provide facilities for them.
Rep. Nsikak Ekong, Member representing Ikot Ekpene Federal
Constituency in the House of Representatives, said that the conference was
impactful because it addressed issues that have to do with social media and
teenagers.
“So this kind of workshop is very good because it educates
the young ones, you catch them young; you tried to change your attitude towards
life, try to change their mentality.
“You try to make them believe and know that whatever you
want to be depends on you, no procrastination.
“In terms of laws, we are getting there somehow. Most states
have domesticated the Child Rights Act, which is a law that protects the child from
bad experiences, trauma and child abuse, so I think we will get there.”
Another parent, Mr Abubakar Ndaputu, said that giving
children an opportunity to be themselves was very important because it was the
best way to know how they feel about certain issues.
He, however, said that the government has a role to play by
creating an enabling environment for them to be able to express themselves.
He added that the government could facilitate trainings and
workshops for teachers on mental health issues so they could in turn give the
necessary help to the children when needed. NAN
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