We were delighted to join the Working Group on the Quality of Childhood for their 90th session, hosted in the European Parliament by Member of Parliament Radka Maxová.
The 90th Quality of Childhood talk investigated how different environments that children and youth live in – offline and online – can have individual and joint influences on their mental health. The session featured presentations from various researchers and a child and youth panel discussion on the issue of mental health.
Dominic Richardson, Managing Director of the Learning for Well-Being Institute, shared the findings from a newly published brief written on behalf of the Alliance for Childhood – European Network Group, which explores the prevalence of poor mental health in the European child population and how changing environments are influencing mental health issues. He underscored the need for investment from day one, and called for European policymakers’ commitment to making child and youth mental health a priority.
Dominic was one of three speakers each of whom touched on different aspects of child and youth mental health. In addition to Dominic’s presentation, Professor Joanna Inchley, coordinator of the Health Behaviours in School-aged Children Study, spoke on mental health and well-being in school environments and Professor Sonia Livingstone, from the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science, spoke on mental health in online environments. Complementing these insights, Üwen Ergün, Head of ACT2gether Germany spoke on experiences of intergenerational dialogue in addressing the mental health needs of children and youth at Camp Koln.
The presentations were followed by a youth panel discussion.
Download the brief here.
Access the full recording of the event here.
