Background:

According to UNICEF in 2020, New Zealand Aotearoa had the second highest rate of adolescent suicide in the OECD. Suicide, unfortunately, is a leading cause of death among 10-19-year olds in rich countries. As a high school teacher, I was personally affected by these stats and was therefore motivated to address this issue.

Aims

The primary aim of Study 1 was to implement and assess a school-based positive youth development intervention in working mainstream public funded high school Aotearoa New Zealand. The primary. The primary aim of Study 2 was to assess the relationship between school belonging and mental health.

Method:

The Men Fit Programme consisted of 2 1-hour sessions each week, over the course of 10 weeks (i.e., one high school term). The current study assessed four cohorts of
students that completed the programme in 2018 (n = 69) and a control group of students that attended the same school but did not complete the programme (n = 82). Participants
completed measures of wellbeing, resilience, and grit, at the start and end of the programme. Study 2 utilised data from school-wide assessments conducted at the same high school the
Men Fit Programme was implemented in, assessing a large sample of students (n = 589) on
measures of school belonging, stress, anxiety, and depression.

Results: 

In Study 1, for participants in the Men Fit Programme, there was either no significant change over time in wellbeing, resilience, or grit, or a change that was observed in both the intervention and control groups. In Study 2, school belonging predicted lower odds of both depression and stress, but not anxiety

Conclusion

A sense of belonging matters to optimal wellbeing and learners succeeding in education. This can be built. Whakawhanaukataka (Māori/Kā Tahu Dialect) is one way to describe how we can do this for our learners and actually, anybody, in our community to support population wellbeing in any organisation.