ST AIDAN’S/CALDERHEAD Mental health the topic of contest
High schools compete in public speaking
At the Hamilton Sheriff Court on March 30, teams from St Aidan’s High School, Biggar High School, Annan Academy and Castle Douglas High School met for the Sheriffdom Final of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service public speaking competition.
The theme for that round of the event was “How can the stigma of mental health across Scottish Society be overcome?” Each team consisted of two people and were allowed five minutes for each person to speak on the topic and the chairman for the event was Mr Bill Craig, a senior prosecutor. Judging for the event were three Sheriff Court judges.
Devlin O’Neill and Ella McKendrick, two second year students, represented St Aidan’s at the event. They argued that better education from the outset must be used to defeat the stigma of mental health, and that educating young people could make all the difference to their perception of people suffering from mental illnesses later in life. They also argued that we must fight for equality in our society in order to remove the negative stigma surrounding mental health issues.
The two students faced fierce competition from the other teams in the event who all argued broadly along the same lines. The competition came down to the wire but after much deliberating the competition was won by Castle Douglas High School. The Crown Office hopes that the event will raise awareness with young people about diversity and equality.
After announcing the victors Sheriff David Bicket said that he was “astonished” by the performances of all involved. Bill Craig added that he was “impressed at the standard and maturity of the student’s presentations.” Sheriff Bicket told us that he hopes the event will “help the students’ confidence and ability to think clearly, concisely and logically and that it will help them persuade and answer questions when dealing with other people.”
Bill Craig voiced that he was “quite humbled” by the efforts of all of the students.
School News THEME: How can the stigma of mental health across Scottish society be overcome?