Youth struggles in South-eastern Europe: Depression, work abuse, and privacy worries

In Greece, mental health among young people continues to be a major issue. As evidence, iMEdD Lab, a Greek platform focused on investigative and data-driven stories, reported on a study involving 40 Greek schools that came to 3 revealing conclusions about teenagers:

65% think school increases their anxiety and stress;

50% have no idea where to turn for mental health issues;

Around 47% claim they don’t feel comfortable discussing mental health issues with teachers. 

The young and the exploited

As well as dealing with mental health issues, young people in this part of Europe, especially those who are struggling financially, face tough working conditions.For example, Kosovo 2.0, an online magazine focusing on explanatory, contextual and narrative journalism, spoke to three food delivery drivers aged 17-21 who claimed that they pay for their own medical expenses after road accidents, work 8 hours a day without a contract or protective equipment, and are rewarded with a disappointing monthly salary. What’s more, one of the drivers confessed that he didn’t even have a driving licence. Armend, one of the young delivery men, said that he had been doing similar jobs since he was 12 years old, such as making hamburgers, waiting tables and working in construction. As quoted by Kosovo 2.0, the 2022 Labour Force Survey shows that “young people aged 15-24 make up 14.6% of the labour force and the majority work without a contract”.

Outside Kosovo, the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet reported the tragic death of a 22-year-old brick factory worker. Just two days before his death, the young man used social media to draw attention to the dangerous machine that accidentally crushed his leg and ended his life. The Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF), a human rights NGO founded by self-exiled Turkish journalists, highlighted a report showing that the number of fatal workplace accidents in Turkey reached a record high in 2022 (1,843). According to Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG), the reason for the many deaths is the AKP party’s aim “to turn Turkey into a source of cheap labour for Europe”.

Romanian professor: ‘School can’t do it all, maybe nothing’

Some might blame the school for failing to deal with the children’s problems, but professor and writer Horia Corches, writing in the Romanian magazine Dilema Veche, takes a different view. He believes that the school “can’t do everything, or maybe nothing, if society and the family don’t fight to highlight true principles and values”. Specifically, the professor blamed rich people without values for setting negative examples for his country’s children. 

EU: between protecting and harming its youth

One of the solutions to the mental health problems faced by young people is artificial intelligence. As Efi Vagena, professor of bioethics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, pointed out for the Greek investigative platform iMEdD Lab, AI tools can help children if they are well regulated and introduced in a “system of accountability”.

Vagena’s two characteristics, however, are not met by the controversial proposal by the European Union’s Home Affairs Commissioner, Ylva Johansson, ostensibly aimed at combating child sexual abuse. But there is a downside. According to the influential Greek media Solomon, which focuses on public interest issues and investigative projects, if Johansson’s proposal is accepted, the regulation would oblige social platforms to snoop on their users’ systems, including private chats. Children’s privacy will therefore be put at risk. 

All in all, whether it comes from schools, institutions, better parenting, AI, or all of the above, it’s clear that young people need more help from society. 

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