A group of young people have been working on an idea to address social isolation and reduced opportunities to meet new people throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
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Mount Rowan Secondary College students Paolo Polentino, Brayden Musgrove-Benum, Alex Bedford and Riley Green found difficulties for Year 6 pupils transitioning to high school.
Sitting at home doing schoolwork, it is very difficult to connect with people.
- Alex Bedford, Mount Rowan Secondary College student
The team had an idea to run a letter-writing program between final-year primary school pupils and high school students to make the change easier under COVID-19 limitations on social activities.
"We are encouraging them to send letters to chat with people they don't know so on the journey to Year 7 they already know people and won't have as much anxiety as they would not knowing people," Riley said.
"Even for us going through lockdown, we have not had a full year of high school so we haven't had the time to communicate, socialise and make friends as much as a few years ago," Alex said.
"Sitting at home doing schoolwork, it is very difficult to connect with people."
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The team came up with the idea during the Crazy Ideas College program run at their school in 2021.
The program encourages students to identify a real life issue they are passionate about, come up with solutions and bring them to life.
The team reached out to a number of primary schools to form connections and work to start letter-writing.
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Alex said working to bring their idea to life felt enriching.
"Instead of coming with an idea and leaving it and doing nothing with it, I feel like we have a chance to actually change something," he said.
"It feels very helpful in our lives having something we can get off the ground and experiment with and change."
Riley said he had learnt communication and teamwork skills.
"Doing this project helped us with idea generation and connections," he said.
All student group ideas were showcased around Ballarat during a two week walking tour in November.
Ideas were highlighted on posters throughout different venues and members of the community could follow the tour through a map.
Other students' projects include a podcast on dangerous animals and a weekend featuring LGBTIQ+ friendly events.
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
