are your biggest challenges ?’ This question

brought a range of answers from young people , said Vicky Branch , Cranstoun ’ s head of children and young people . Mental health , loneliness , access to services , waiting lists , substance use , bullying , violence … many issues emerged and many were not being addressed early enough before becoming problematic .

So how could we think about earlier interventions ? Young people ’ s centres were being closed and there was a lack of inclusive social spaces and activities . Simple steps made a big difference – Routes had been created as a youth hub from free space in Dudley ’ s Merry Hill shopping centre . With Cranstoun ’ s innovation fund it had become an open access , walk-in service and a safe space for help , support and guidance , which was co-produced with young people .

Phil Harris , a treatment specialist and author , had experience of developing services for the transition to adulthood . ‘ We ’ re not only having to prepare children for adult life – but one that ’ s changing rapidly ,’ he said . Challenges for future generations were ‘ not things we grew up with ’ and the challenges converged ‘ in the age of overwhelm ’.

One in ten children had a mental health condition – an upward trend reflected in the 100,000 children treated for

mental health issues each year . ‘ The modern world is having an impact and anxiety is the shift we ’ re seeing ,’ he said . Specific technology-influenced problems and terms such as ‘ doomerism ’ had emerged , where ‘ the doomer goes down a rabbit hole of nihilism and defeatism ’.

The transition point from child to adult was a ‘ particularly sensitive period ’ and there were long waiting lists for support – the time delay between symptoms and treatment meant that 250,000 children were waiting . Symptoms could seem like something else – psychosis might appear to be depression – and in fact it was rare to find someone with a single presentation . Furthermore , we were seeing that ‘ some disorders we thought were the same are profoundly different ’.

‘ We need a big shift in how we think about mental health

The modern world is having an impact and anxiety is the shift we ’ re seeing . Doomerism has emerged , where the doomer goes down a rabbit hole of nihilism .

and look at environments and brain development ,’ he said . New approaches might include AI and digital therapies , including games .

‘ Violence casts a long shadow over children ’ s lives ,’ added Caleb Jackson , head of youth at the Youth Endowment Fund . A children , violence and vulnerability study had assessed the youth sector ’ s role in preventing violence and found that while youth activities were popular , youth service cuts were huge and had made delivery challenging . ‘ We need to reach , rather than say hard to reach ,’ he said and offered approaches to reducing youth violence through the YEF toolkit ( https :// youthendowmentfund . org . uk / toolkit /).

Students Organising for Sustainability ( SOS ) had conducted their annual survey about students ’ relationships with drugs and alcohol . Hannah Head , who ran their drug and alcohol impact training ( and was also a member of Students for Sensible Drugs Policy ) highlighted a zero tolerance approach and lack of knowledge in many universities . But there were barriers to universities having a harm reduction focus , she said – including misunderstanding of drugs laws – and there were obvious opportunities for interventions and initiatives that were being ignored . Greater

Loneliness and the cost of living are some of the biggest problems facing young people , said Connor ( left ) and Winter , who contributed to the discussion on challenges for the next generation .

trust between universities and their students would offer chances to communicate on health and wellbeing and be much clearer about a harm reduction approach and support . Bristol were doing this well with large posters on campus and an onsite drugs advisor , while Leeds were using Instagram stories as a more effective way of engaging than just posts . It was essential that students knew the risks and understood about drug safety , she said . A Universities UK Drug Taskforce report * had acknowledged harm reduction and – despite being ‘ watered down ’ by the time it was released – had said that universities should adopt a harm reduction approach . DDN

* Enabling student health and success , available at www . universitiesuk . ac . uk / what-we-do / policy-and-research / publications / enabling-student-health-and-success