The Next Generation

- Dan Masoliver

Seven boys between the ages of 14 and 16 sit shoulder to shoulder around a table in their principal’s office. Their white shirts are tucked in and their ties neatly knotted. They are wearing matching midnight-blue blazers and a studiously serious expression befitting their surroundings. But they’re not here because they’re in trouble. They’re here to discuss what’s on their minds.

Today’s subject is mental health. “When my mum died, I didn’t cry. I was, like, is there something wrong with me?” says one boy. “Sometimes, I just get so angry. I used to get in a lot of fights,” admits another. One by one, they chip in: “Most boys I know don’t talk about anything serious. It’s always jokes. They don’t talk about the deeper things…” “People will be, like, ‘What’s wrong?’ But I don’t want them to come check on me and make sure I’m alright. I don’t want people to think I’m an attention seeker…”

These young men have not had the easiest of lives. They are students at Oasis Academy South Bank in the borough of Lambeth, a secondary school with one of the highest intakes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds in the country. On top of the usual pressures that come with adolescence, many have also had to deal with living in poverty, watching friends fall victim to gang violence, or losing relatives to the penal system. But while these kids’ experiences may seem exceptional, the emotional struggles that they have been asked to describe today – anxiety, anger, depression – are increasingly commonplace among their age group.