Young people create communication campaign for Pro Juventute

In emergency situations, children and young people need people in whom they can confide. Sometimes also outside the family. Every day, around 400 children and young people seek advice from the more than 70 professional counselors at Beratung + Hilfe 147. The current situation is additionally stressful for many young people. "At the moment, many young people are contacting Beratung + Hilfe 147 because they are afraid of the current isolation, which may be getting worse," explains Thomas Brunner, head of counseling at Pro Juventute.

For many young people, there is something very threatening about the thought of no longer being able to move freely, no longer being able to maintain social contacts and thus being much more on their own - they are at home, separated from their circle of friends, disconnected from the usual daily structure and are in closer quarters with parents and siblings, which can provoke new conflicts. In addition, no one can predict how the economy will develop - an uncertainty that can weigh heavily on young people, especially those about to enter the workforce. Even in the current situation, Beratung + Hilfe 147 is available on all channels around the clock.

Worry Barometer 2019: Information on sexuality most frequently requested online 

The media usage behavior of children and young people is changing all the time - they are increasingly using written channels or looking for answers on the web as a first step. The use of professional advice content on the website 147.ch has therefore been growing steadily for several years. For the first time, Pro Juventute therefore surveyed a "digital worry barometer" of the topics that are most frequently requested online at 147.ch.

The figures for 2019 show: Contraception (11.3%), masturbation (6.8%), pregnancy (4.9%) or the first time (3.7%) - the topic area of "sexuality" is by far the largest among the topics requested online, accounting for 43% of all page views. Until ten years ago, questions about sexuality were also the most frequent in telephone counseling (23.5% in 2009), but today they account for only 8.4% of direct contacts.

"It is clear that questions about sexuality continue to play an important role in young people's everyday lives. Young people often look for information on this topic on the Internet, which can be answered with digital content - provided it is of high quality. That's why we at Pro Juventute have enriched the 147.ch platform with information texts and answers to common questions over the past two years," explains Thomas Brunner.

Serious personal problems determine daily counseling routine 

In counseling by phone, SMS, email or chat, the increase in serious personal problems is coming to a head. They already accounted for more than a third of counseling sessions in 2019, at 35.6% (up from 10.9% in 2009). These are mainly suicidal thoughts (9.3%), depressed mood (4.6%), crises (3.8%), anxiety (3.6%) or mental illness (3.5%). Although these topics are also increasing in the online statistics and already account for 13% here, "it is evident that young people continue to look for a direct counterpart who listens to them and can address their individual problem, particularly in the case of serious personal problems," Thomas Brunner explains further.

Expansion of the chat with peers 

Sometimes it is easier to talk about one's own situation with peers. That's why Pro Juventute launched the "Chat with peers" in 2017. Once or twice a week, teams of young people are available online for a personal chat. The young counselors are accompanied by counseling professionals from Beratung + Hilfe 147. Due to the success of this offer, it was further expanded in 2019 and is now available in German, French and Italian.

In 2019, this chat counseling was used by 2057 young people. Also during the Corona crisis, the "chat with peers" is open to young people in German-speaking Switzerland every Monday and Tuesday between 7 pm and 10 pm, and to young people in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino every Monday between 7 pm and 10 pm.

Young people design campaign

But Pro Juventute does not only involve young people in counseling, the new communication campaign was also implemented by nine young adults aged 16 to 22. Seven photographers and two filmmakers from different regions of Switzerland developed the image and film concepts for seven relevant topics from the everyday counseling life of Beratung + Hilfe 147 as part of a pop-up agency (Werbewoche.ch reported).

Together with model friends and accompanied by Rod Kommunikation, the young people created their posters and films in an intensive week of work in mid-February. "We gave the artists a largely free hand and are delighted with the results. The young people brought in their own perspective and their pictures and films are therefore particularly touching," says Ingo Albrecht, campaign manager at Pro Juventute.

The images and films will be published online from Monday. From June 8, 2020, they will also be on display as posters throughout Switzerland.