St Journal 7 (term 3)

Home Section page B6
Call us, helplines urge troubled teens

1a) List two reasons why teens are reluctant to call helplines despite the promise of anonymity and professional help.

- The teens, who are mostly students in secondary 3 and 4, revealed that they would rather not confide in strangers. They also think it is wimpy to call.

- Youth between 13 to 18 are at an age where the main objective is to look cool, and look experienced, wordly-wise, and unfazed by anything.

b) According to Ms Lily Chu, how does Touch Leadership and Mentoring prefer to help troubled teens?

According to Ms Lily Chu they prefer to help youths by a more direct , effective means , through programmes like workshops in schools , face to face counselling and home visits .

2) Have you confided in your friends or family members about the problems you face in school/ life? Why or why not?

I have confided in my parents of my family and close friends in schools about the propblems i face in school . It is because it is just like the newspaper mentioned those of our age would not ever confide in those that are not really close to us as we have no relationship with them and do not find the needs to talk to them . So hotlines offered by those counselling programmes teenagers like us would not use the contacts listed or provided by them .

Have you been betrayed by your friends before? If yes, how? (You may change the names of the people involved for privacy)

I have been betrayed before. After this experience, i do not dare to tell other my secret anymore. This really explains once bitten twice shy.