By Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada

September 12, 2024

Social engagement for young people has an enormously outsized impact on their mental well-being, and that’s what BGC Clubs are about.

BGC Clubs are a safe place that supports kids through back-to-school transitions and other mental health concerns. Our Clubs are often referred to as a ‘third place’—somewhere outside of school and home—where kids can just be kids while also getting the support they need to succeed in their academics, passions, and interests. Clubs help through mental health-focused programming and meaningful relationships with friends and staff—still, it’s not enough.

Related: BGC Clubs provide kids with basic needs to they can have brighter futures.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to present at the Mental Health Roundtable hosted by the Federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Ya’ara Saks. The roundtable was attended by a variety of youth-serving organizations, and it was particularly encouraging to hear several other organizations – including the Minister herself – speak of the collaborative work with local BGC Clubs and the support we provide to young people.

The purpose of the Roundtable was a consultation on how the government should be spending and allocating the $500 million Youth Mental Health Fund that was announced in the budget earlier this year. One of my key messages was that we don’t need to spend time on innovating new approaches – we need to scale what works, today.

As we look at this Canadian investment in mental health, we see that the benefits of youth clubs around the world are vital to the same issues. As a new government takes office in the UK, The Guardian reported that there was significant de-investment in youth clubs during the former Tory government, and it has had huge impacts. An older article from The Guardian also noted that the closures were increasing youth violence. There is hope that the new Labour government under prime minister Keir Starmer will reinvest in these vital organizations.

Social wealth is mental health – meaning that social engagement for young people has an enormously outsized impact on their mental well-being, and that’s what BGC Clubs are about.

Because of a Club, 95% of members have more people they like to spend time with. By providing a safe third place, Clubs are making a difference—a big one.

Read more: 

• BGC Clubs provide job opportunities for young people
• Young people deserve a safe space to explore and express their identity
• Poverty in Canada: The Kid Made It

We know Facebook can do more to protect our kids and teens on their platforms.

We see firsthand the negative impact social media is having on young people, from body image issues to depression and anxiety, online bullying to rampant misinformation. As Canada’s largest dedicated organization for children and youth, we are asking Facebook to do more.

A global company of this size can move faster, must move faster. Young people deserve better.

What needs to change:

• Facebook needs to be better at policing users under 13 and improving verification processes; the federal government should also develop regulations to ensure these verification processes are rigorous and mandatory across social media platforms
• Facebook should be liable for negative, false, or damaging content that their algorithms promote e.g. promotion of eating disorders, bullying, predatory behaviour, etc
• Youth should have the right to be forgotten at age 18—their prior social media life could be disconnected and archived, viewable to them only, and a fresh profile would start again at that stage

As we recognize International #DayOfTheGirl, #WorldMentalHealthDay, and Mental Illness Awareness Week #MIAW21, we are taking a pause from Facebook and Instagram this week and asking them to do more to protect our young people.

Join us in asking Facebook to do better.

Media inquiries:

Jared Morrow, BGC Canada
jmorrow@bgccan.com
905-477-7272 x2202