What's this project about?
2800 young people responded to the 2010 Hutt Valley Youth Survey - a comprehensive view of the wellbeing of young people.
We worked with Upper Hutt City Council to survey 12 to 24 year olds across the Hutt Valley to identify issues and concerns. The survey included a number of general questions around the main issues and needs of young people and their wellbeing, and more focused Sections on smoking, alcohol, drugs, violence and safety.
What do the results say?
Hutt Valley young people mostly feel cheerful, active and interested in life.
80 per cent responded that they were positive about their life, most of the time, but 25 per cent had felt depressed at some time.
Drug use, excessive alcohol consumption were issues identified most often in the responses to the survey. Other concerns were violence, safety and criminal or bad behaviour like bullying.
Improvements in leisure opportunities were identified but there was still a shortage of places to “hang out” and job opportunities had worsened over the 12 months up to August 2010.
Read the survey results summary. (PDF, 172kb)
Read the full report. (PDF, 3Mb)
Watch the newscast video summary of the results on YouTube created by young people from Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt.
How are the results being used?
We’ve been working alongside local organisations to help make positive changes and address the issues raised by our young people. This group includes Upper Hutt City Council, New Zealand Police, Regional Public Health, Community Action Youth and Drugs (CAYAD) Hutt Valley, WellTrust, Secret Level and Vibe.
The survey is an opportunity for everyone, from government and businesses, to the community and young people themselves, to work together to make improvements.
Positive projects have already been identified and will be undertaken alongside other organisations in our region. They include:
CAYAD Hutt Valley has launched a Youth Help campaign where young people can access free support for health concerns, social services and business information in the Hutt Valley. Young people don’t always know how to access services.
CAYAD Hutt Valley has also set up an ultimate frisbee programme for Hutt Valley’s young people to participate in.
A proposed website for young people and youth service providers in the region to connect young people to information from health services to finding a job and what’s on this weekend to new projects to get involved in.
We’re also looking at options for introducing a “Tag Free Kiwi” programme into Lower Hutt primary schools within.
Find out the latest at Upper Hutt City Council.