After watching Britain's Youngest Carers and having a good cry, I knew I needed to blog again. Something like that brings home how important communication and support is. It's one of those things people forget; everyone talks about getting physical support, getting someone in to do some of the caring for you. However some people forget the emotional effects of caring.
I am one of the luckiest young carers because the support I've had from school, family and my peers is just out of this world. No matter how small or big my problem was there was someone there to stand by my side and talk it through. It felt weird to have people willing to spend time with me when I was making a fuss over tiny things. At the time it felt stupid but now looking back I've realised how important that support was to be being able to go back home and be a young carer.
However I know my story and support isn't the norm, I hear horror stories of young people having to battle it alone and then something slips, be it their education or their caring skills. You also hear stories of children getting support but feeling patronised or like they are stuck between bad and worse. I did research for this post because I have no concept of bad support and I read the bellow quote from a young carer:
'Is it because of my size and age you
assume I don't have adult responsibilities?
Remember, what you might think is reassuring can come across to me as patronizing.'
Even with the outstanding support I've had I really can understand the point, even as a young carer, doing her best to support others, its hard not to patronise people or sound like I know everything. There is a fine line in communication which no matter what the topic.
All I really wanted to say in this post was despite not being fully trained or knowing everything I want to be their to support you all. I want to hear your comments about how you cope and want you to tweet or facebook me (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Young-Carers-Zone/213880772138953 or https://twitter.com/youngcarerszone) to share your stories and show your support. I also really want to hear some success stories.I want people to see how strong we are as a group of young people, because no matter what you feel you are strong and you are amazing.
So get commenting, tweeting or liking our page because communication is so important and people need to be aware of that.
Love to you all,
Shannon x
