‘More needs to be done to ease exam stress’ – Newry MLA

SDLP MLA for Newry and Armagh Justin McNulty has said that more must be done to ease the stress experienced by students and young people at exam time. 

Speaking to Newry Times, McNulty explained, “Stress is a part of everyday life, however, our young people are being introduced to it at an even younger age. 

“In particular, many young people and their parents have reported a huge amount of stress on students around exam time. This only adds to teenage anxiety and can often impact on examination performance.

“We need to do more to support our young people. Anxiety, stress and depression are all conditions that are not visible to the eye, but if they go untreated they can have devastating consequences.  I know our schools do fantastic work through their pastoral care teams but we must do more as a society to support our young people and that’s not just in schools or in colleges.

He continued, “We need to see a holistic approach to tacking this very important issue. I would like to see our Schools / Colleges and Universities work closer with sporting and voluntary organisations along with our healthcare professionals to coordinate their efforts. 

“If we can offer help or assistance at what is a difficult time in many young people’s lives it can have a very positive impact later in life.

The Newry and Armagh MLA added, “These young people are our leaders of the future and by investing in their mental health as well as physical and educational wellbeing we can help them become stronger citizens of tomorrow, having an ability to cope with all the issues life throws at them.”

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=64261

Posted by Newry Times News on Jun 5 2018. Filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry