Under 25yrs?

My name is Tania Hayes and I have been a carer for the past 12 years for husband Warren who is a partial quad and wheelchair bound.

Over the past 12 months it has been my hearts desire to take our famiy's inspiring story into schools and knowledge on Supporting Young Carers in Primary and Secondary Schools. Thanks to literature from the Australian Government and Carers Australia we have touched many lives with our school talks and are making a difference to the lives of youngs carers in our schools in Australia today.

With 170,000 young carers in schools trying to juggle their education and the peer pressure of fitting into society while caring for a loved one at home, the pressure on young carers is enormous. Reasearch shows a high drop out rate for young carers in schools with students commenting that their teachers sometimes don't always understand what they are going through at home and why sometimes they can't get their homework and assignments done on time.

When heading into schools in the Sydney and South Coast Regions, we have come across so many youngs carers in schools, that teachers did not know were carers. These young carers have been hidden in the maze of others students crying out for support and just wanting someone to say 'I care' that you are a young carer and I am willing to help you.

It is my hope and desire that all schools will support young carers, take time to understand their situations and work with them to juggle their education and their commitments to their families.

Sometimes young carers just need to know that they are not alone and that there are others in their classrooms going through the same situation. With 2 young carers in every classroom today - we need to support them now! Knowing that they are not alone, gives them comfort and allows them to talk about their situation with likeminded people and seek help if they need it. And for other students in their class who are not carers, it gives them a chance to understand the role of a carer and what ways they can help their fellow classmates.

Being a young carer is not an easy task. But the love young carers give to their loved ones in their time of need is a very special gift and something very precious. I urge all young carers to stand tall, be proud of what they do and always remember to ask for help, you don't have to do this on your own. There is help available if you just ask.

May all schools in Australia today, take on the responsibility of caring for their young carers and give them every opportunity to strive to be the very best they can while they juggle their caring roles and education.

Hey Tab and everyone else, :)

I am very lucky that my school is understanding of my caring role but I know that some teachers just see it as an excuse. I am trying to change this by advocating for Young Carers at my school and I encourage every Young Carer to do the same. The only way we can change things in our schools and to make school life easier for Young Carers is to inform teachers about the importance of supporting Young Carers through their education. We don't want to be treated differently we just want to know that there is support for us if we ever need it. It just makes asking for help that much easier :).

I hope I haven't said too much...
thanks for reading
CJ

hi all
i'd say im very fortunate to have parents and a school who have done everything they can to support me in my education but i know for many young carers this isnt the case.

The one thing I would most like to see change in the education sector is awareness of Young Carers and their role in society. For schools, Tafe's, universities and other educational institutions to realise that caring has an impact on young people and that some leniancy and flexibility is needed in delivery of course content and in completion of assesments.

thanks and keep smiling
Tab :)
e.g. in a school situation when a student presents themselves as a young carer and states that due to their caring resonsibilities they were unable to complete their assignment on time for the teacher to be able to recognise this and work with the student rather than dismissing them and insisting that caring is not an excuse as young people don't care.