DrinkWise. | You Got This 2021 – messages of support for Year 12 students

2021 has been a difficult year for many Australians – especially Year 12 students.

There’s no doubt that lockdowns, homeschooling and missing key milestone school events (such as formals, sports and birthdays) have been especially hard – but Year 12 students need to know those hardships haven’t gone unnoticed and Australians support them as they head into their final exams. This is where You Got This comes in. An initiative developed by DrinkWise, it features well-known Australians offer messages of support to Year 12s, encouraging them to stay positive and resilient, but also reminding them if they are feeling stressed or anxious, there are support services that can offer help and advice. The initiative also reinforces that trying to relieve stress or anxiety with alcohol or drugs is definitely not the answer.

The You Got This – Class of 2021 support messages are led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and include more than 30 prominent Australians, including Cody Simpson, Anthony Albanese, television hosts Georgie Gardner and Amanda Keller, musicians Clare Bowditch and Samantha Jade, Wallaby Samu Kerevi, ABC 7.30’s Leigh Sales, AFL, NRL and NBL players, comedians and artists.

The campaign has the support of Headspace, Beyond Blue, ReachOut, Kids Helpline and My Mirror support services and will include direct links to these services.

New DrinkWise research found that nearly 60 per cent of 2021Year 12 students are worried about their own mental health as they prepare for their final exams, according to new national survey of school leavers.

The results show a significant decline in the mental health of the Class of 2021 when compared to the Class of 2020:

58% of Year 12s are feeling anxious about their own mental health (up from 41% in 2020).
• Only 41% of students feel good about what’s happening in their life (down from 52% in 2020).
• 41% of school leavers are worried about a friend’s mental health (up from 23% in 2020).
• Some students are turning to unhealthy and problematic options in an attempt to deal with stress, including drinking, not eating and smoking