Helping teen talk from Coleman at St Caimin’s

WELL-known clinical psychologist David Coleman will be giving a talk on the theme of Helping your Child Navigate the Teenage Years at St Caimin’s on January 24.

The talk is open to all and there will be a charge on the night.

The psychological wellbeing of children and teenagers has been a hot topic in recent times, particularly after the deaths of two young girls in Donegal.

School chaplain Cora Guinnane acknowledged it is a difficult time for teenagers. “As a whole, I think a lot of teenagers are doing fine and they’re happy enough. I think that if they’re engaged with sport and extra-curricular activities, it helps but I think maybe those kids that are on the internet and don’t socially interact as well may find life a bit more difficult.”

She also feels the number of incidents of young people self-harming has increased. “Definitely, you see an increase in it and the people that offer services and help for teenagers encountering these problems would see an increase.”

Mr Coleman will discuss a range of issues affecting teenagers, she added. “He’s going to look at communication, building up resilience, self-esteem, the various different challenges that they encounter, he’ll address those as well. He’s going to look at the transition from primary to post-primary. How to build up their self-esteem and if they are encountering these problems, how the child might deal with it themselves, to know what to do, what’s the best approach and who to look to for help.”

Bullying has always been a problem among young people and the use of the internet has made it more constant. “It’s more relentless and bullies can hide behind anonymity, people can be bullied and no one knows who’s doing it.”

In a recent interview with The Clare Champion, Mr Coleman said cyber bullying is often linked to what he calls ‘real-world’ bullying but it can be particularly nasty.

“The key usually to understanding cyber bullying is that most cyber bullying actually has some kind of real-world bullying going on as well. So the issues that arise in terms of teasing and taunting online follow some kind of interaction in the real world. In that sense, the nature of cyber bullying is no different.

“It’s either two youngsters having a row, very publicly online, or it’s one person having a go at trying to make another person feel really bad.

“What is different though about cyber bullying is the public nature of it and the fact that when youngsters are online and they’re at a slight remove sitting in front of a screen, it’s like they feel they have greater liberty to be meaner and say more hurtful things.”