HI-SO: Creating a Generation Committed to Balanced, Healthy Achievement

Imagine yourself trapped, not by the walls around you, but by your mind. You are trapped and infected by a pandemic that has spread around the world. But, unlike other pandemics, this is one we are taught to ignore, avoid talking about and cover up: mental health challenges.

Figure 1: According to the World Health Organisation, one in eight people experience a mental health disorder. These disorders included disturbances to thinking, emotional regulation, or behavior.

In today’s hyperconnected world, young people are chafing under the weight of a bevy of new standards imposed on them like never before—curated social media feeds bombard them with unattainable benchmarks of beauty, success, and happiness. They are told to excel academically, physically, and socially, all while measuring themselves against unrealistic ideals. The result? A generation drowning in guilt, exhaustion, and self-doubt. In fact, in a 2023 study by the American Psychological Association, it was found that 48% of people born between 1995-2012 reported feeling constant pressure to meet unrealistic standards. Almost half. Almost half the people of an entire generation are straining under the crushing expectation to be flawless yet never quite feeling they belong in the very world demanding it of them.

Many parents, who just want the best for their children, push them to achieve in areas they themselves desire or that they think would provide the most secure future. We live in the era of the Designer Child in which youth are forced to conform to somebody else’s vision. This is not the life they envisioned neither is it the one they want to live, yet they are goaded to do it anyway. Pressure builds and it builds and it builds - but there is often nobody to talk to. Why? Because you will be seen as fragile, weak, by your friends, family and those around you.

In 21st century childhood, social media is the elephant in the room. Platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube, commonly used by youth, proliferate unrealistic ideals of beauty, wealth, and success. I remember I would always question my family on why I didn’t go to these amazing vacations every holiday, these questions stemmed directly from me being too exposed with unrealistic expectations from #wanderlust. Excessive exposure to extreme luxury, physical appearance, academic success, etc. can make young people feel like their life is inadequate and undesirable, spawning a sense of inadequacy and hopelessness.

There’s also the economic pressure aspect, where individuals who are far too young face expectations from family or peers to build a successful career and achieve financial stability; despite lacking the necessary resources to do so. This creates a downward spiral among youth who have not even fully developed yet feel pressured and trapped, with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

But these stories are merely the tip of the iceberg. Realistically, young people face a barrage of daily challenges. Most of  this has stemmed from social media where sometime in recent years, it was deemed that having poor mental health was seen as an extreme weakness. This is the reality for countless young people today: Their pain is dismissed, bottled up or buried under stigma, leaving them to battle isolation alone. But it’s time to change that narrative. Mental Illness is not a failure - it’s a human experience. It is time we treat it with the same urgency as any other health problem - Promoting understanding, not shame. Let's normalize conversations about anxiety, depression and burnout. Let’s demand spaces where asking for help is met with support, not silence. 

Figure 2: Anxiety encompasses a range of emotions and mental processes that often go unvoiced and unnoticed. However, there are noticeable signs we should all learn to recognize that do indicate the underlying issues beneath the surface.

The SDG goal 3 states ‘Good health and wellbeing’. Yet when conversing about this specific goal, the Mental health and wellbeing side is often neglected. And with this lack of acknowledgement, many, many people suffer in silence. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people aged 10-24. Almost 20% of people aged 12-19 reported depressive symptoms in 2021-2023. Only 53% of US youth with mental health conditions receive treatment.

Figure 3: In the UK, the percentage of youths suffering a mental disorder has increased 60% in the six years from 2017 to 2023 (King’s Fund)

Figure 4: Suicide now accounts for approximately one out of every five deaths among people aged 10-24 worldwide

These numbers are not just statistics - they represent lives fractured in silence. When youth fear judgement, they retreat, they trap themselves, unknowing of the consequences ahead.

My organization HI-SO (Healthy instead, strong outside) aims to combat this stigma that has spread across the world with the mission to cultivate a healthy striving among the global youth, where ambition to achieve is balanced by a healthy, abundant and well-intentioned inner world. 

Solving this crisis requires all hands on deck - youth, parents, teachers, and administrators - and school is the natural home base that brings everyone together. As such, we aim to establish a chapter in as many schools as possible around the world to address the unique challenges with culturally appropriate solutions.

At HI-SO we follow the framework of SMILE. We support, meet, inform, love and experience. We aim to support those in need, meet new people and new stories, inform others on the problem, love each other when times are tough and finally, experience growth and change together. With this framework alongside some activities in which we would like to introduce can help erase the stigma that has been so detrimental to our society, bit by bit.

Success requires a blueprint: all parties are involved, there are consistent initiatives throughout the year, there is a standing committee that are in charge of this. 

For example, at my local school one of the cornerstones to our philosophy is wellbeing, where we have weekly Wellbeing activities as well as a world mental health day once a year. Additionally we have many initiatives that are consistent throughout the year, one that I have done was that I gave a talk to Year 8 Parents titled ‘Celebration of Learning’, where I informed parents about the increased expectations people have now and how that could affect young people's mental health. Large part of this talk was regarding technology, specifically social media,  and how that can affect the youth and their wellbeing. Finally, we have a group called ‘Wellbeing ambassadors’, a crucial committee in our school that are in charge of everything wellbeing related.  

My school represents a community united around a commitment to mental health through sustained effort, accountability, and care for each other. HI-SO wishes to take this idea global, so that every single school, no matter the circumstance, is able to protect, heal, and uplift its youth.

Success doesn’t happen overnight, it may not happen over weeks, months or sometimes years. But through persistent steps: One honest conversation, one reformed policy, one courageous act at a time we can dismantle the stigma. The youth are not fragile. They are fighting a silent battle by themselves and it is time for everyone to listen. Because no one should be trapped in their own mind.