Suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, pressure to slim to size zero and the negative stereotyping of young people were just some of the issues aired during a spirited debate in west Belfast yesterday.
The concerns raised by the young people were the same as you would hear in Dublin, Cork or Galway, although some of the youthspeak appeared particular to Belfast. For instance, do you know what a Smick or a Millie is? Read and learn.
The auditorium of St Louise's School, off the Falls Road, was where Catholic and Protestant young people from around Belfast gathered for the Youth Talks Back discussion chaired by the BBC Belfast's broadcasting shock jock Stephen Nolan.
The schools event, which marked the opening of the West Belfast Spring Festival and was sponsored by The Irish Times, featured a panel with Children's Commissioner Patricia Lewsley, Bill Lockhart, head of the Youth Justice Agency, and Stuart Mullen, director of the Northern Ireland Youth Forum. They made interesting contributions but the best insights came from the young people themselves.
Take Kevin Catney (17), from Coláiste Feirste in west Belfast, who spoke about the huge problem of teenage suicide. "Does a person need to be dead to meet the criteria to get proper counselling?" he asked. He was speaking out of the experience of "somebody I am very worried about and who I am close to" who couldn't get the support she needed.
The panel told him about a crisis helpline for young people and about how some schools now had special counsellors. But he nonetheless felt services were inadequate and difficult to locate.
Jodi Grimason (17), from Ashfield Girls School, east Belfast, took up the point. "If I was feeling low I would not talk to someone I did not know," she said.
"And if a friend came to me with a problem, I would not know what to tell them. We need a programme that helps kids talk to other kids."
Most, including a number of boys, showed their hands when asked did they generally feel under compulsion to lose weight - and this from a bunch of students who all seemed in sharp shape. The girls said the "size zero" culture was at its worst "for formals and other big events".
Many complained of a lack of recreational facilities which contributed to teenagers taking drugs and alcohol. And, according to Jordana Maguire (17), a computer buff from St Dominic's in west Belfast, what facilities there were catered "for the sports jocks; there is nothing for the nerds".
Danielle Shields (17) from St Louise's said she didn't mean to be "cheeky or anything but in your day" the adult panel wouldn't have been subjected to the same pressure to binge on drink and drugs.
Negative stereotyping was a major issue. Christopher McMullan (17) from St Gabriel's in Ardoyne, north Belfast, spoke about how, if you were a young male from Ardoyne, you were assumed to be a "dangerous hood". Aisling Armstrong (16) from St Louise's agreed with Christopher.
"Just because you are from west Belfast people think you are a Millie or a Smick. Sometimes kids who don't do things they are accused of end up doing them anyway because they are accused so much," she said. Rebecca Dougan (16) from St Dominic's made the same point: "Such stereotyping should be challenged."
The Irish Times, after clarification from Aisling and Rebecca, learned that a Smick is itself a stereotype of a young male who favours cheap gold chains, wears white trainers and possibly a "hoodie" and/or baseball cap, takes drink and drugs, and may be disposed to stealing cars.
Millies are their drug/drink-taking young female friends who tend towards big hooped earrings, bleached blonde hair, and bright clothes.
At the end of the debate Nolan rightly congratulated the young people for their intelligence, charisma and energy.
