Teesside young carer calls for more support in schools and mental health
We're hearing from a young carer from Stockton
We are hearing from a Teesside young carer who is calling for more support in schools and colleges and around mental health.
1\7 year-old Amelia Howson is from Stockton and she helps look after her mum.
She said: "Being a young carer has been a challenge especially on my social life and my mental health. I noticed that the difference between my life and my friends lives was that I wasn't doing things that most kids would be doing. My role in the house weren't chores for pocket money, my roles in the house were to help my mum and to make sure that she was OK.
"I found that when I'm organised and helping my mum I tend to know what I need to do for that day, but then it means that I tend to lack organisation in my own little world outside of helping my mum, so I never have a clear vision of what I'm supposed to do for myself.
"My roles now are picking up prescriptions, going shopping, changing dressings if she's had an operation, making sure she's taken her medication, tidying around the living room or around the house when she's there and even when she's not. My main part now is I help look after my sister when my mum's got no energy for example if she's at hospital or she's got an appointment.
"As I'm in college now, it means that I've got a lot more coursework to get completed so I do try my best to meet the deadlines and keep up with my work but it's not always possible. In school I struggled to keep up with homework because I always did it last minute because I could never find the time to do it. Sometimes I'm behind on my work because I'm helping my mum and if it's not that then it's because I need to take time for myself.
"My friends know that my life isn't like theirs and I can't always hang out due to being needed at home sometimes but sometimes I don't like to go out as I'm too scared in case my mum is poorly and I can't reach her.
"I'd like to see more supoprt in schools and colleges as I feel like young carers aren't on the school radar as much. Education is hard enough let alone when you're caring for someone at home. I'd like to see more support for young carers and mental health as well as caring for someone from such a young age can be impactful on young minds.
"Schools and colleges should be more understanding about young carers as it would explain the young carers' behaviour because sometimes a young person being tired isn't because they're lazy, it's because they've been up all night worrying or them being naughty is not them just misbehaving, it's because that's their only time to be a kid again."