In Greece, psychological well being amongst younger individuals continues to be a significant concern. As proof, iMEdD Lab, a Greek platform centered on investigative and data-driven tales, reported on a examine involving 40 Greek colleges that got here to three revealing conclusions about youngsters:
65% assume college will increase their nervousness and stress;
50% don’t know the place to show for psychological well being points;
Round 47% declare they don’t really feel snug discussing psychological well being points with academics.
The younger and the exploited
In addition to coping with psychological well being points, younger individuals on this a part of Europe, particularly those that are struggling financially, face robust working circumstances.For instance, Kosovo 2.0, a web-based journal specializing in explanatory, contextual and narrative journalism, spoke to 3 meals supply drivers aged 17-21 who claimed that they pay for their very own medical bills after highway accidents, work 8 hours a day with out a contract or protecting tools, and are rewarded with a disappointing month-to-month wage. What’s extra, one of many drivers confessed that he did not also have a driving licence. Armend, one of many younger supply males, mentioned that he had been doing related jobs since he was 12 years previous, similar to making hamburgers, ready tables and dealing in building. As quoted by Kosovo 2.0, the 2022 Labour Power Survey reveals that “younger individuals aged 15-24 make up 14.6% of the labour power and the bulk work with out a contract”.
Exterior Kosovo, the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet reported the tragic loss of life of a 22-year-old brick manufacturing facility employee. Simply two days earlier than his loss of life, the younger man used social media to attract consideration to the damaging machine that by chance crushed his leg and ended his life. The Stockholm Middle for Freedom (SCF), a human rights NGO based by self-exiled Turkish journalists, highlighted a report exhibiting that the variety of deadly office accidents in Turkey reached a file excessive in 2022 (1,843). In accordance with Well being and Security Labor Watch (İSİG), the rationale for the various deaths is the AKP get together’s intention “to show Turkey right into a supply of low cost labour for Europe”.
Romanian professor: ‘College can’t do all of it, possibly nothing’
Some may blame the college for failing to take care of the kids’s issues, however professor and author Horia Corches, writing within the Romanian journal Dilema Veche, takes a distinct view. He believes that the college “cannot do every little thing, or possibly nothing, if society and the household do not struggle to spotlight true ideas and values”. Particularly, the professor blamed wealthy individuals with out values for setting detrimental examples for his nation’s youngsters.
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EU: between defending and harming its youth
One of many options to the psychological well being issues confronted by younger individuals is synthetic intelligence. As Efi Vagena, professor of bioethics on the Swiss Federal Institute of Expertise in Zurich, identified for the Greek investigative platform iMEdD Lab, AI instruments can assist youngsters if they’re properly regulated and launched in a “system of accountability”.
Vagena’s two traits, nevertheless, usually are not met by the controversial proposal by the European Union’s Dwelling Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, ostensibly geared toward combating baby sexual abuse. However there’s a draw back. In accordance with the influential Greek media Solomon, which focuses on public curiosity points and investigative initiatives, if Johansson’s proposal is accepted, the regulation would oblige social platforms to listen in on their customers’ programs, together with personal chats. Kids’s privateness will due to this fact be put in danger.
All in all, whether or not it comes from colleges, establishments, higher parenting, AI, or all the above, it is clear that younger individuals want extra assist from society.
Extra picks
Todor Todorov | Kapital | 19 September | BG
The offender behind Bulgaria’s low cost wheat costs is Russia’s behaviour of flooding markets with low cost grain at beneath market costs whereas world demand is falling. Russia can afford to do that as knowledge reveals it has the biggest surplus of wheat produced on the planet. So Bulgarians ought to cease blaming Ukraine’s exports, that are insignificant. Nonetheless, there is a vivid facet, in line with Reuters analyst Karen Brown, as a result of “wheat costs will attain their historic lows in mid-2024, which will be seen as excellent news. As a result of after a low, there’s all the time an increase”.
Andrei Udișteanu | Recorder | 4 September | RO
Whereas a conflict rages close by, the variety of resignations from the Romanian military has tripled in simply three years, regardless of bulletins of large army funding, and troopers have begun to blow the whistle on one of many foremost causes for the detrimental development. Together with dissatisfaction with salaries and the hazard on the Ukrainian border, the Romanian armed forces blame outdated attitudes promoted by decision-makers and the each day realities confronted by army personnel, even in peacetime, similar to having to make use of brute power to unjam previous tools or transporting hay. Opposite to what the whistleblowing troopers say, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis instructed the NATO summit in Vilnius that every one promised investments in army infrastructure have been met and that there is been “sustainable progress”.
Faruk Sehic | Oslobodenje | 9 September | BH
In an interesting account, Bosnian author Faruk Sehic displays on his experiences in war-torn Ukraine. He describes how he learnt about important medical tools used on the battlefield, similar to tourniquets and chest seals, and their position in saving lives. Regardless of the conflict, he’s struck by the cleanliness and order in Ukraine. Sehic additionally highlights the resilience and dedication of the Ukrainians, who present an internal need to maneuver ahead inside Europe. In direction of the top of his report, Sehic shares this message he obtained from a younger Ukrainian known as Oleksi: “Odessa is gorgeous! Air raids 5 occasions a day. At evening rockets, kamikaze drones. Romance.”
In partnership with Show Europe