National Mental Health Debate for Young People
‘Are young people involved in decision making?’
Join us for the Royal College of Psychiatrists Wales and TEC Cymru National Mental Health Debate for Young People, where primary schools will argue for and against the motion 'Are young people involved in decision making?’
This virtual event is being held for schools throughout Wales to enter. The event will be broadcast over Zoom on the morning of Friday 15 December 2023.
This event follows on from last year's successful National Mental Health Debate for Young People, on that occasion schools debated the motion 'Can young people prevent climate change?'.
We are asking that schools register interest and we will send further details through.
- Each invited school will nominate two student spokespeople to represent them at the debate.
- One person team should argue ‘for’ the motion, and one person should argue ‘against’ the motion on behalf of their school.
- Each contribution should last two minutes as a maximum.
- Each contribution is pre-recorded, and submissions can be received in English or Welsh.
During the event itself, submissions will be broadcast and there will also be contributions from prominent figures.
Schools will have the opportunity to interact through registering votes on whether pupils agree or disagree with the motion both before and after the broadcast of the submissions.
The event will run 'live' on Friday 15 December, the recording will also be made available to schools to watch back, and this will be made available on the day of the event.
If you would like to register your school to participate, please complete the electronic form from the blue box opposite in the first instance, we'll then come back to you with details of how to submit a video recording and all the relevant deadlines.
We ask that schools register early to avoid disappointment.
We'll be keen to hear the views directly from young people on the motion 'Are young people involved in decision making?'. Here are a few questions that may help generate discussion.
- Do young people feel empowered to take action?
- Will schools/politicians and others listen to young people when making decisions?
- Will small actions lead to big changes?
- Should young people feel optimistic about the future?
- How can young people ensure their voices are heard?
The motion can highlight instances within family, school, or wider societal settings.
We'll be sending out a short guide of how best to submit the recordings, this will be shared once schools register. Please be assured that it's straightforward.
We also have permission to share a couple of examples from recordings that were shared for our most recent debate for secondary school pupils. These can be shared on request, please contact Antonia Fabian.
Timeline
- Please register as soon as possible.
- Video submissions need to be received by Friday 1st December.
- The full event programme, with confirmed schools and guest speakers will be issued on Friday 8th December.
- The debate will be broadcast over Zoom on the morning of Friday 15th December.
Notes for schools
The Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales has a long history of running these successful mental health debates for young people in person. We have also successfully held virtual debates in this format for both primary and secondary secondary schools pupils across Wales for the last couple of years.
Our event partners
Technology Enabled Care Cymru (TEC Cymru) are the national video consultation service, supported by Welsh Government.
More information
For further information, please contact Antonia Fabian.