By BEN CAMERON
REPORTS of exposure to family drug and alcohol abuse has left a Cardinia Shire Council youth worker “shocked”.
Council Youth Outreach Officer John Veloso, one of six council representatives to attend last month’s Warragul workshop to develop strategies to engage young people, said self-esteem programs ran with year-nine students revealed “an alarming number” experiencing addiction first hand through family members, including ice use.
“There were a number of surprises,” he said.
“An alarming number were exposed to older siblings’ (drug habits).
“Many had experimented with alcohol (themselves) at such a young age.
“I was more shocked than surprised.”
A My Place interim report from February revealed “high levels of alcohol abuse” by adolescents aged between 12 and 14-year-olds – 49 per cent – and 81 per cent of 15 to 17-year-olds.
It also found 21 per cent of youth aged 15 to 17 had tried an illegal drug.
Veloso said social isolation was a major contributor to addiction.
“Boredom can make people chose to do silly things,” he said.
“It’s a big problem (in Cardinia Shire).
“We’ve seen a few suicides from young people in recent years.”
He said some of the year-seven and eight students he worked with were shocked to learn caffeine and energy drinks were harmful to health.
The interim report also revealed the shire experienced “poor educational attainment” with 36.8 per cent leaving school at year 10 or below, compared with 26 per cent in Greater Melbourne.
39.5 per cent of local students complete year 12 or equivalent compared to 54.6 per cent for Greater Melbourne.
Veloso also delivered resilience awareness workshops to grade six students, in response to the 2013 Youth Forum Survey which found stress was the top issue for all age groups.
“Mental health concerns were identified as a high priority for young people (through the survey),” the interim report found.
“There are significantly high levels of self-reported stress (62.7%).”
The 2013 Youth Survey collected responses from 1700 young people across the shire, with the majority aged between 13 and 18 years of age.
Cardinia Shire Council’s Youth Services can be found on its website www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/youth
