Today, the Irish examiner released a study of 2,5oo teenagers which found that two thirds of 13-19 year olds say that their mental health state is ‘poor, very poor or average.’ We talk to girls all the time about the pressure they feel to be smart, beautiful and perfect. Caitlin Moran, the amazing author of
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Last year, Nicole lost her younger brother, 18 year old Alex, who took synthetic drugs (SD’S) at a house party. Since then, Nicole has learned as much as she can about SD’s and works really hard to prevent as many of these deaths as she possibly can. Here, she shares what she learned and what
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10 years ago this week, 18 year old Cork girl, Leanne Wolfe took her own life after enduring 3 years of bullying. Leanne’s parents were on holiday in Spain when the phone rang and their son simply said “Leanne is gone”. Leanne’s mother, Colette’s mothering instincts took over and, from all those miles away, she
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1. You ascribe intent. Your friend never texted you back. Someone jumped ahead of you in the queue. You were mistakenly left out of a group chat. You take it very personally. So what caused you to be so offended? You took it as a personal dig, a slap in the face. Happy people do not do
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We don’t let many boys hang out here at shona.ie, but in this case we’re making an exception. Meet your new idol, Kid President. Need a pep talk? KP has possibly the best pep talk ever given. Kid President has interviewed President Obama, kissed Beyoncé, launched his own TV show and his book, Kid President’s Guide to
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Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to our new youth council, Ireland’s fabbest young women. Each of our members will tell us about themselves, and share why they decided to join us. This week, meet Clodagh, a 20 year old English and French student, currently in Nantes, France on her year abroad. Clodagh
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There are many types of verbal abuse, trolling, cyber bullying, slut shaming, exclusion, we all know them. But do you think we would be so ready to do it if we could literally see the effects our words have on people faces? Photographer, Richard Jones has joined forces to create a project called ‘Weapon of
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Very few people know how to respond when people when they say they struggle with mental illness. Here’s some things that have been said to me that made me irritated/belittled. There’s also a few responses at the end. “Oh that’s shit I get pretty depressed too. Especially when everyone goes out and I don’t and
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Caitlin came out to her closest friends 4 years ago. Now fully out and very happy, she has written this piece in the hopes that sharing her experience might help someone else going through the same thing…. Learning to be Proud: A Reflection on the Awkwardness of Self-Discovery I accepted at some stage in my
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People who suffer from depression often find it hard to verbalise or explain how they feel. Sometimes, a picture can tell a thousand words. Janelia Moud has been working on a project called “A Girl Called Meloncholy- A story of Depression” in which she uses images of a character with no face to explain the
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Today is International Women’s Day all over the world. On this day we celebrate the achievements of women, especially those who have contributed to making the world a better place for all of us. We have come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. We all have a part to
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Pretty much all of us grew up reading Dr. Seuss. But now that we’re a little older, we can really appreciate how much wisdom that little cat with his hat actually shared. Today would have been Dr S’s 112th birthday, and to celebrate we’re sharing all his best quotes in the one go. Enjoy x
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With so much talk and advertisement – mainly aimed at us young folk – to “be ourselves”, to not be afraid to “be different” and “stand out from the crowd”, it’s a wonder that there’s any social clubs or societies left, because god forbid we have the same interest as someone else! We are encouraged
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Emma Watson is the best friend/ big sister you need in your life. We first saw her as a wee scrap of a thing in Harry Potter, but since then she has used her fame as a platform to create change, spread love and put positivity into the world. In 2014, Emma visited Bangladesh and Zambia,
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Last night, we received this letter from a girl who took part in a workshop before Christmas. If you have ever struggled you need to read it…. Dear Tammy, or any other beautiful soul that is reading this; Hi! I’m ***, and I’m fourteen, and back in about October or November of 2016 you came
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Sophie Kane is back to tell us about how important it is for us to use our voices and stand up for what we believe in. Don’t for one minute feel that because you are young, or because you are a girl, that no-one will listen. It doesn’t matter whether its animal welfare, environmental issues, women’s
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Last week we shared Aisling’s first post. Here she writes about how some days, all she wants to do is stay in bed. Most days, she gets up anyway, one day at a time. My bed is my castle. Nothing can come near me and nothing can harm me when I’m in my bed. Whenever I’m
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Are you struggling today? Do you feel like noone sees you? Do you feel like everyone else is speaking a language you don’t understand? Do you wonder if you will ever find a place to thrive and blossom and stand tall? Are you wishing you could find the strength to stand up to those whose
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