Since the pandemic we have become much more used to talking about mental health, even in children and young people. But what are the issues that are really affecting teenagers today?

 

Razzamataz Theatre Schools is a national network of part-time schools, teaching more than 10,000 children every week. As part of their commitment to providing a performing arts education that builds life skills and confidence in young people, they have conducted research into the main issues that are affecting students, with a survey sent out to the Senior students (age 12-18) across 60 Razzamataz schools throughout the UK.

 

Life goals

Although the pandemic closed schools, it did not lessen ambition in young people. 92.5% of Senior students say they have life goals, whether that be in performing arts, careers in general or for their future wellbeing.

Responses include:

• “To become an architect and get better at the things I am passionate about.”
• “I would like to travel and live in different countries.”
• “I would love to be in the performing arts industry, whether that be on stage, screen or working behind the scenes.”
• “I want to be happy and have a job that I enjoy.”
• “I may want to go into the sciences, maths or politics.”
• “I plan to have a successful career and be able to financially support a family of my own. I want to train as a paramedic and despite not going into the performing arts industry, I hope to utilise my experience with Razzamataz to approach every aspect of my life with confidence and professionalism.”
• “To find happiness in a career path.”

 

 

Challenges at school or home

Many young people say that Razzamataz is their safe place, a space where they can truly be themselves. This is heartening because out of the Senior students we spoke to, 40.3% said yes they had challenges at school or home, 44.8% said they did sometimes and just 14.9% said no they did not.

Responses include:

• “School is hard for me because it’s noisy and too many people in one place.”
• “School is so so stressful and with GCSEs so soon I feel like I’m failing, and I have no time to get better and that my best isn’t good enough.”
• “I find school challenging because I feel I am not understood or treated in a way I deserve.”
• “I have to wear hearing aids and have dyslexia and I struggle understanding things. School teachers and friends sometimes do no understand me.”
• “I worry I’m not as clever as other people.”
• “At home I can’t talk to my dad about anything without it becoming an argument and I don’t know how to talk to my mum.”
• “I often deal with sensory overload related things that are challenging in school, but I have found some ways to manage or help it.”
• “Secondary school has been a real challenge for me. I sometimes struggle to see the point because I don’t feel that my wellbeing or career path are supported in my current school.”
• “Dealing with grief at school, dealing with parents splitting at home.”
• “Everything, managing my moods, homework and school in general.”
• “I find school extremely difficult, coping with my mental health since lockdown has been a real challenge. I am lucky to have a supportive and helpful family who help me through many challenges, but school is the most challenging aspect of my life.”

 

Overcoming challenges

For many adults, learning how to overcome challenges takes time and patience. For children, with little life experience, that is even more tricky. For Razzamataz students, they have a huge advantage with 73.1% saying yes Razzamataz does help them overcome challenges and 23.9% said sometimes it does.

Responses include:

• “It gives me confidence to try things even if I’m not sure about them.”
• “Razzamataz is like an escape where I can be myself without judgement and do the things I want to do with people that are also passionate about it. There’s so much support with a great community.”
• “I feel like Razzamataz helps me overcome some difficulties like fitting in and feeling like I belong.”
• “It has helped me get over a lot of social anxiety and build confidence. I feel like a completely different person to when I started Razzamataz. I’m happy with who I am now.”
• “Razzamataz is my escape and my safe place. A lot of the time at school I am quiet and reserved but when I’m at Razzamataz, I feel comfortable to let my true personality and confidence shine through.”
• “They check in on how I’m feeling and know when there’s something wrong.”
• “It helps me forget things and it helps me connect with people with similar interests.”
• “It helps me escape from reality and I always feel better after going to Razzamataz.”
• “The teachers are always there to help you and seeing really nice friends makes you have loads of fun. It’s my favourite part of my week.”
• “Since lockdown, Razzamataz has helped me to regain social skills and connect with people who have the same interests as me.”

 

 

Confidence building

The level of confidence with our Senior students is fairly high with 37.3% saying it was around the number 7 when asked to rate between 1-10 (with 1 being the lowest). Since starting Razzamataz, 89.6% of students said that their confidence has improved and the other 10.4% answered that maybe it had.

Responses include:

• “I feel like I’m always given a chance whereas at school and another dance school, this isn’t the same.”
• “I don’t feel judged and my friends support and encourage me.”
• “I have become more confident in trying new things and pushing myself to do things even when I’m scared.”
• “Everyone is so encouraging and brings out the best in you.”
• “There’s such a great atmosphere at Razzamataz that it lifts your confidence and makes you feel more comfortable to be yourself around people.”
• “I feel a lot more confident in myself, dealing with new situations and becoming a better person.”
• “Performing in the West End and Summer Shows has shown me I can do anything I put my mind to.”
• “I used to hate going anywhere and sometimes I wouldn’t even talk to my friends because I was so scared, but Razzamataz has helped me a lot.”

 

Sleeping habits and understanding mental health

We know that for teenagers especially, it is crucial that they get a good night’s sleep. This means removing devices from bedrooms and understanding their mental health and what is keeping them awake at night. 32.8% of our Razzamataz Seniors said they had good sleeping habits, 49.3% said ok and 17.9% said bad. When asked what mental health means to you, we got a wide range of replies.

Responses include:

• “I think it means being mentally stable and having a good outlook on life.”
• “How I’m feeling inside and my emotions.”
• “Good mental health is a good balance of being able to express happy and sad feelings.”
• “It’s something that everyone has whether it’s good or bad.”
• “Something I’ve heard a lot about but don’t know how to change.”
• “Being able to feel completely at ease, safe and happy when it is good but knowing that it can fluctuate and no one is ever completely ok.”
• “Mental health is really important. I believe it’s an essential part of life to look after yourself and check in with your emotions every now and again.”
• “It’s something that I know is important to keep good but sometimes it is just terrible and you feel like nothing can really help.”
• “Being physically active and feeling good about yourself.”
• “I understand mental health to be a state of emotional and social wellbeing. To me mental health is extremely important, however it is also unfortunately overlooked in the current generation.”

 

 

Anxiety and how to deal with it

We know anxiety in teenagers is on the rise. The NSPCC said since April 2020 anxiety has been the top concern from young people who have called its Childline counsellors regarding their mental health. Our Senior survey showed that 46.3% of students feel anxious often, 34.3% said sometimes and 19.4% rarely feel anxious. Going to Razzamataz helps 56.7% feel less anxious with a wide range of comments about how it helps.

Responses include:

• “I know if I’m struggling or having a hard time I can speak to the teachers and know they will help and have my best interests at heart.”
• “I feel like it makes me happier and in doing that it helps me mentally relax and that means I am not anxious while I am there.”
• “My mood is always instantly brightened by going to Razzamataz. I used to get anxious about going when I didn’t really like talking in social situations, but now, I know that whatever I’m feeling, there are people there who will make me laugh, make me have a good time and that love me.”
• “I often feel anxious however when attending Razzamataz I often have a chance to express my feelings through dance and performing.”
• “As the teachers are supportive and I get to enjoying performing arts, it takes me away from any negative thoughts.”

 

Self-image

For young people to achieve their potential, it is important that they see themselves in a positive way. We asked our Seniors how often they feel proud of themselves with some mixed results. 22.4% said often, 62.7% said sometimes and 14.9% said rarely. However, being a Razzamataz student has changed the way 79.1% of them feel about themselves for the better with 17.9% believing that Razzamataz may have had a positive change in them.

Responses include:

• “Being at Razzamataz has helped me to feel proud of my strengths and realise practise makes perfect and you’re not going to be amazing the first time you try something.”
• “I feel so much more confident in myself, in my body, and that has made me love myself more. I can be who I am at Razzamataz and I always feel loved and that has helped a lot.”
• “Razzamataz has helped me through so much, both in my performing arts journey and the struggles in my personal life, and I definitely would not have gotten through all of this without going every week.”
• “It gives me so many opportunities to be proud of myself and to feel good about what I’ve done.
• I feel more confident about being me.”
• “When I receive praise from my teachers, I often feel better about myself and be more confident in my own ability. Razzamataz teaches me to embrace my individuality.”
• “Razzamataz has made me look at my achievements and my performances and realise I can be proud of what I contribute.”

 

MD and Founder of Razzamataz Theatre Schools Denise Hutton-Gosney says: “The results of this survey with our Senior students show the importance of performing arts for young people. We are incredibly proud of all our franchisees, teachers and team members who are clearly making a positive impact on young people throughout the UK.”

 

Want to join our team?

Razzamataz Theatre Schools offer employment to some circa 600 people either as teachers, assistants, or part of the admin team. There are plenty of opportunities to grow with many people starting out as work experience placements and progressing to assistant Principals or Principal roles.

 

Make a difference to young lives in your community

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Training takes place regularly at the Razzamataz Head Office in the beautiful Lake District and Flagship school Razzamataz Carlisle. 

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Razzamataz Theatre Schools is a BBC’s Dragons’ Den backed theatre school franchise established in 2000. Every school offers FREE taster sessions for all potential students to try, and every team member will have access to the Razzamataz Training Academy, a platform that we believe will revolutionise the ongoing development of our staff. Upon completion of the course, each teacher will receive a diploma that is recognised throughout the network. We are proud our average network turnover running as a mainly part time business is circa £80-100k in our network with our top performing franchise partners operating the business full time reporting turnovers of circa £300k with a 70% gross profit! 

 

Neither Razzamataz Ltd, nor any of its directors, associated companies, employees, professional advisors or associates makes any representations, warranties or guarantee as to the reasonableness or accuracy of the financial information supplied to franchisees or the likely financial performance of individual franchisees.  The information provided above is purely based on a number of general assumptions based on a full school however the individual performances of franchisees will vary depending on factors such as local competition, pro-activeness of franchisees to follow the systems, the promotion of the brand & other factors.