ReachOut Australia was invited to facilitate a session at the recent DIGI Engage summit, where leading social media services including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, YouTube and Microsoft’s Xbox brought together 130+ young Australians to talk about how we can create a more inclusive and respectful digital world.
Held on Friday, 21 October 2016, DIGI Engage featured workshops from a range of youth organisations that intended to equip young people with skills and insights to drive inclusiveness online. We’re committed to supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing in the spaces they’re in – including social media – so empowering young leaders through DIGI Engage is an important way to empower young people to create inclusive and safe spaces online.
A key part of an inclusive digital world is being prepared to have difficult conversations and knowing how to respond if someone reaches out for help. This can be hard in any setting, and young people are telling us they are being challenged by difficult conversations like these online all the time. ReachOut’s session on difficult conversations gave attendees strategies to make sure they can provide a helpful response even when they’re not an expert in mental health.
ReachOut’s workshop covered useful tools like active listening and our top five components for how to help, including:
During the workshop, DIGI Engage participants brainstormed the range of supports available to them in their communities in every corner of Victoria and gave some amazing answers – check out some of them below.
For more information about the DIGI group check out digi.org.au.
Held on Friday, 21 October 2016, DIGI Engage featured workshops from a range of youth organisations that intended to equip young people with skills and insights to drive inclusiveness online. We’re committed to supporting young people’s mental health and wellbeing in the spaces they’re in – including social media – so empowering young leaders through DIGI Engage is an important way to empower young people to create inclusive and safe spaces online.
A key part of an inclusive digital world is being prepared to have difficult conversations and knowing how to respond if someone reaches out for help. This can be hard in any setting, and young people are telling us they are being challenged by difficult conversations like these online all the time. ReachOut’s session on difficult conversations gave attendees strategies to make sure they can provide a helpful response even when they’re not an expert in mental health.
ReachOut’s workshop covered useful tools like active listening and our top five components for how to help, including:
- Recognise bravery. Opening up and revealing you need a little help takes guts, so heap the praise on them. You can say ‘You’re really brave for telling me this.’
- Say back what you’ve heard. This makes sure you heard it right and shows the other person they’ve been listened to. Start with ‘It sounds like you …’.
- Provide reassurances and give positive encouragement. Tough times can be hard, so a little extra encouragement from a mate can keep their energy up. A little hope always helps too, so tell them they can get through this.
- Provide a helpful next step. Tough times can be overwhelming and sometimes you don’t know where to turn. But you can help by singling out one or two next steps, and keep in mind sometimes giving help can mean recommending someone else to talk to for more help.
- Share a success story (if you have one). When you know that a help option has worked for you or someone else in the past, share it. It’ll instil confidence.
During the workshop, DIGI Engage participants brainstormed the range of supports available to them in their communities in every corner of Victoria and gave some amazing answers – check out some of them below.
For more information about the DIGI group check out digi.org.au.
