Commissioner’s Opinion
Through her work as South Australia’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly is driving home the message that listening to children and young people should be our priority. Helen firmly believes that, where possible, we should work with children and young people to co-design solutions that take into account their opinions, ideas and lived experience. Below are opionion editorials written by Helen and published by mainstream media and shared on socials.
Imagine Being 25: the hopes and dreams of South Australia’s regional children and young people
Last year when I started as Commissioner I went around the State and asked children and young people what they wanted to change, what they wanted me to do and what was important to them. In regional areas there was a real sense that they love where they live and they get to do lots of outdoor activities, like having bonfires and riding motor bikes.
Last year children and young people told me that bullying was one of the biggest issues for them and they wanted me to do something about this in my work as Commissioner for Children and young people
It’s also a priority of the State Government with their pledge to implement anti-bullying strategies in all schools. Schools will now be asked to look at their anti-bullying policies. They will also get training on how to identify and respond to bullying. This is a positive move, but I am eager to see much more done and for children and young people to be involved in this process.
Last week many commentators, politicians, journalists and others were debating the pros and cons of the David Gonski led review into educational excellence and the report of this review — Through Growth to Achievement
At the heart of the report was a plan to better prepare students to succeed in a changing world. I am not an educator or curriculum expert but I am someone who spends a lot of time listening to children and young people in schools. I ask them about what they think about life and school and their future.
Just over a year ago I was appointed Commissioner for Children and Young People in South Australia
I want to use this as an opportunity to tell you the story of what’s happened so far, but also tell you about what you can expect in the next four years. The first year has been both inspiring and interesting and at times challenging.
This week I had the honour of chairing a meeting with His Royal Highness, The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
He was here to talk to civil society leaders about the Duke of Edinburgh Award being rolled out in the youth justice system in SA. I was extremely impressed by how engaged His Royal Highness was as he took part in a discussion with people who have the capacity to bring real change in our youth justice system.
Children born this century are growing up in a completely digital world
This impacts on the way children and young people view their world, access information and services, gain knowledge, form opinions and participate in things that matter to them, and something that really matters to them is gaming. I, like many of my generation, have never really understood the attraction of gaming or taken an interest in really understanding it but this has changed.
Recently I have been thinking about how to get South Australians fired up about youth unemployment
The data released last week by the Brotherhood of St Laurence identifies the twenty hot spots nationally that have the highest youth unemployment rate. SA had four regions and all four had worse figures in 2018 than 2016, with the Adelaide Northern region continuing to be a “hot spot” region for SA.
Re-branding South Australia with young people
Sometimes when you are flat out you lose sight of the significance of things. That’s what happened last week when I facilitated a conversation between Brand South Australia and a group of young South Australians. It was only on reflection that I realised how big it was.
We should ask our young people what to do about bullying
On the National Day Against Bullying and Violence, it is a good day to talk about bullying. We should really reflect on how to tackle this issue by first talking to children and young people about what we need to do. This is also a good time to share what I’m doing in response to the many requests I’ve had to ‘do something’ about bullying.