Adolescent Well-being: Global Trends, Insights, and Future Directions

 More than ever before, our world now has the largest ever population of adolescents in human history, with people between the ages of 10 and 19 ranging to around 1.2 billion. As such, it is important for us to ensure that each of these individuals finds supportive and caring ecosystems through attentive policies that allow them to maximize their full potential. The development of such a policy requires that we first pay attention to the contexts that adolescents find themselves in, and understand the direction in which adolescent well-being is headed. 

 Even as healthcare standards have improved across the world, with well-being becoming more accessible than ever before, existing gaps ensure that several adolescents lack access to quality healthcare and safe environments, which are critical prerequisites to staying healthy. According to estimates, around 1.2 million adolescents die from easily preventable causes, such as poor hygiene facilities, and a lack of hygiene facilities. 

 In the case of adolescent girls, the event of the onset of puberty brings additional complications, as millions of girls lack proper information about menstrual health, in addition to being restricted by social and material conditions that limit their educational and economic opportunities. Consider, for instance, that child marriage is still the leading cause of adolescent girls between 15 and 19. According to the World Happiness Report, it is around the age of 12 that girls start reporting lower life satisfaction than their male counterparts, and this rift keeps on widening with time. 

 Such conditions take a toll on their mental health too. A global crisis haunts the world today, wherein adolescents are grappling with anxiety, stress, and depression, such that self-harm is the leading cause of death for adolescents between the ages of 15-19. These challenges are further worsened due to pervasive stigma, in addition to the lack of mental health resources. In addition to being under immense social pressure owing to academic performance, body image, and socioeconomic status, Mental health is further deteriorating owing to the dangerous risks of substance abuse that teenagers are susceptible to, with over one-third of teenagers consuming alcohol in not-ideal situations.

 The path to a healthier future is then built on developing systemic solutions that can target these problems in their diverse manifestations across countries. Given that the well-being of adolescents depends on the informed choices we make today, acting responsibly is imperative. Only then would countering these unhealthy trends be possible. This requires empowering young people to advocate for healthy lifestyles by helping them develop their skills and confidence, in addition to furnishing them with the right resources. 

Sources

1. https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/child-and-adolescent-well-being-global-trends-challenges-and-opportunities/

2. https://www.voicesofyouth.org/unicef-astrazeneca-youth-manifesto

https://www.unicef.org/health/adolescent-health-and-well-being

Outdoors Optimism: The Rising Relevance of Nature Schooling for Adolescents

 We live in a digital world. As a result, there has been a drastic divide between young people and their natural surroundings, as they are glued to their screens and remain confined to urban construction. Given that technology is only going to advance and assume an even greater role in our lives, the time that individuals spend online is only going to increase, thereby inducing a myriad of developmental and psychological problems.

 In this light, there is a new movement on the horizon that insists on the critical importance of nature schooling for children and teenagers. Realizing how mass-produced technology has negatively impacted the well-being of teenagers, in terms of how they remain constantly plugged-in to some electronic device, this movement seeks to return teenagers back to nature by making them spend a greater amount of time outdoors. The benefits propounded by this movement include enhanced physical and mental health, greater engagement with our natural environment, and a more robust development of our sensor, cognitive, and motor skills.

 Countering the indoor-ification of early childhood and adolescence, wherein individuals remain preoccupied with concerns such as academics, testing, and technology, nature schooling is an alternative method of education that insists that teenagers spend a healthy amount of time of their daily schedules outside in nature. As such, such schooling types incorporate natural awareness into their curriculum about the arts, sciences, mathematics, language skills, and music training pedagogies.

 Such a pedagogy is driven by the core principle that reading, comprehension, and other critical thinking and metacognitive skills are better developed if the children indulge in meaning-making in the outside world, and develop an awareness of how they engage with the world using different senses and faculties through interactive experiences. Not only is this great for perceptual development, but it also allows individuals to expand their horizons by immersing themselves in diverse natural habitats and communities, such as gardens, fields, riversides, hillsides, etc. Further, such schooling is also incredibly helpful in cultivating social skills in teenagers, including cooperation, communication, collaboration, empathy, and a sense of belonging.

As physical, mental, academic, and environmental challenges continue to mount copious levels of stress and anxiety on teenagers, by embracing natural schooling, they can thrive into resilient individuals who are equipped to take care of their well-being.

Sources

1. https://hikeandlearn.org/education/earthkeeper-nature-school/what-is-a-nature-school/
2. https://mamateaches.com/what-is-nature-schooling/  ​