Author: Janey Marie Dickinson
There is a silence that lives in many young people, not from a lack of thoughts or feelings, but from a deep uncertainty about whether their voices truly matter. Make no mistake, they are not empty. Young lives are always observing, processing, and surviving. They move through cycles that educators and psychologists often describe as forming, storming, norming, performing, and sometimes adjourning or mourning.
Forming is the tentative beginning, where trust is fragile and relationships are being shaped. Storming is the period of tension and challenge, where differences, frustrations, and questions emerge, sometimes loud, often quiet. Norming is where young people begin to find rhythm and shared understanding, negotiating boundaries and learning to collaborate. Performing is when potential and capability emerge fully, often hidden beneath earlier struggles. And adjourning or mourning is the reflective stage, where transitions, endings, and losses are processed.
At a glance, these stages might seem routine, even invisible. A casual observer could pass them by, missing the small but significant signals, a choice of words, a pause in speech, a hesitant hand raised, a quiet glance, that reveal resilience, struggle, or unspoken needs. Even our vocabulary can betray or reveal subtle pressures: the words we use, the language of inclusion or exclusion, and the ways we acknowledge, or fail to acknowledge, the lived experiences of youth.
I have witnessed this quiet strength in many rooms, among diverse groups, and in spaces where care is promised but not always delivered. Make it be known, not from a lack of intention, but because support-staff are too often under-resourced. Even among friends, many carry the weight of unspoken pain, not because they are weak, but because the world has not yet proven that it knows how to listen. Still, their silence is not surrender; it is waiting, a quiet readiness. And when they speak, their voices deserve to be heard fully, without a policy and/or conditions.
When we do not listen, stories remain locked inside little people, and those untold stories become wounds that simmer and will resurface as adults. Although, when a young person feels truly heard, something shifts in their attitudes. The story no longer identifies as pain alone, it blends in a part of shared humanity, a thread that can connect them to hope.
Research confirms what lived experience has long known: early intervention and compassionate support change lives. In a recent provincial survey, 70% of youth reported feeling uncomfortable seeking help for emotional or mental health concerns, revealing a critical barrier to access (New Brunswick Health Council, 2022). Behind each statistic is a human being with a name, a story, a future that deserves to be seen and supported. Youth, among many barriers, are struggling with mental health or substance use challenges that are not just data points; they are storytellers, truth-holders, and survivors whose voices carry deep wisdom about resilience, courage, and this is an urgency that should be discussed.
Listening is not a passive act, it is an active form of advocacy. When education systems create spaces for that open dialogue, when people respond with compassion, instead of passive cues or judgment. If communities choose empathy over stigma, we begin to rewrite the story for youth mental health.
This is not only about preventing crises; it is about creating cultures of care where healing is possible. As they say, it takes a village, and if listening validates existence. Listening says: You matter. You belong here.
To those in positions such as educators, policymakers, community leaders: the point is clear: make listening a priority. Invest in youth voices, amplify their stories as evidence, and ensure that support is accessible, equitable, and inclusive.
Young people reading this: your story is unique, and because it is yours, it is a gift. Whether whispered in a safe circle of friends, written in a journal, or shared in the wider world, it carries the power to assimilate, forgive and heal, not only yourself, but others who walk a similar path from another view.
It is impossible to change the past silences, but we can choose to learn and listen now. We can create a kinder world for youths futures, not leaving any stones unturned alone to struggle, but better yet, surrounded by communities that say:
“We hear you. We believe you. We are with you.”
Janey Marie Dickinson
Bachelor of Social Sciences, Addictions & Mental Health
Humber Polytechnic
References
Canadian Institute for Health Information. (2025, May 1). Overall trends for child and youth mental health. https://www.cihi.ca/en/child-and-youth-mental-health/overall-trends-for-child-and-youth-mental-health
Canadian Mental Health Association. (2024, November). The State of Mental Health in Canada 2024. https://cmha.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/CMHA-State-of-Mental-Health-2024-report.pdf
Canadian Mental Health Association. (2024, November 19). The State of Mental Health in Canada 2024 - news. https://librarianship.ca/news/mental-health-in-canada-2024/
Canadian Mental Health Association. (2024, February). Youth still reporting higher rates of mental health problems. https://cmha.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/CMHA-YouthMHRC-Final-ENG.pdf
Canadian Mental Health Association. (2025, May 21). Who is reaching out for help? Examining access to mental health services among youth. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-003-x/2025005/article/00001-eng.htm
Canadian Mental Health Association. (2024, November 20). Bridging the Gap: The State of Mental Health in Canada 2024. https://awcbc.org/knowledge-center/trends/bridging-the-gap-the-state-of-mental-health-in-canada-2024
Health Canada. (2025, June 19). Mental health of youth and young adults: Overview. https://health-infobase.canada.ca/mental-health/youth-young-adults/
Mental Health Research Canada. (2024). Beyond the numbers: Youth mental health qualitative report. https://www.mhrc.ca/youth-mh-qualitative
Statistics Canada. (2025, June 19). Mental health of youth and young adults: Overview. https://health-infobase.canada.ca/mental-health/youth-young-adults/