Youth in New Zealand have been struggling with their Mental Health, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic as seen in the rise of mental illness, yet there has been no rise in support. This petition will be given to the Ministry of Education to hopefully change the school curriculum by adding a Psychology module to Health or Social Science classes at every school regardless of decile. I think changes to the education system will provide teenagers with an accurate understanding of what psychology and mental health is as well as support for those who relate and struggle. Students should be taught about topics like trauma, disorders, the effects of drugs on mental health, values, sense of self/purpose and how to think for themselves. This will potentially address youth crime, self harm hospitalisation and suicide rates, which need to be decreased as they are all vital to a harmonic functioning society.

Information about mental health issues are everywhere nowadays with the uprise of social media platforms and with screen time increasing. Sometimes information about Psychology is spread incorrectly on social media, especially in areas such as the definitions of mental disorders and that having a bad mental health is popular or normal just because it's accessible. A course/class in every high school in Aotearoa will provide our youth with an accurate understanding of Mental Illness and Psychology in general.

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