- New Zealand is donating $4 million to the Love Better campaign.
- To help youth move on from breakups and reduce harm to relationships.
- Youthline is running a special hotline to support young people going through a breakup.
Spending millions to make it happen, New Zealand believes it’s time for its teens to tell their ex-lovers “thank you, next.”
The Ministry of Social Development will donate $4 million (NZ$ 6.4 million) over three years to the Love Better campaign, which was launched on Wednesday, in order to aid youth in moving on from breakups and reducing harm to their relationships, according to media.
The government claims that one of its primary issues is what the youth of New Zealand are driving the campaign about.
“Over 1,200 young kiwis told us they need support to deal with early experiences of love and hurt, and breakups were identified as a common challenge,” Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan said in a statement.
A campaign promotional film proclaims, “Breakups suck.” One kid can be heard saying: “This is getting ridiculous.”
The movie includes audio of teens discussing the need to block their ex-partners and move on from their previous relationships. This situation is out of control.
At night, I must get some rest. I must move past her.
Youthline, a group that supports adolescents between the ages of 12 and 24, is running a special phone, text, or email hotline for young people going through a breakup as part of the campaign, which goes under the slogan “own the feels.” A portion of the $4 million will go to Youthline to support the expansion of its current hotline service.
“This is an authentic way to inspire others to build their own strength, self-worth, and resilience,” Radhakrishnan said in the statement, noting the Love Better campaign’s approach leveraging social media and creating a community to address the impact of breakups has not been tried before.
“We know there can be very negative impacts from breakups done badly – both at a personal and community level,” Youthline’s chief executive Shae Ronald said, adding that relationship issues were one of the top reasons young people generally contacted the helpline, media reported.
68% of young New Zealanders who participated in a survey of 1,200 people found that they had gone “beyond the ‘normal’ hurt of breaking up,” according to the Ministry of Social Development.
In order to have a good influence on how young people approach future relationships, Radhakrishnan stated that the campaign’s objective is to encourage them during “these formative experiences.”
The government’s larger national policy to end family violence and sexual assault includes the Love Better campaign.
“New Zealand has shameful statistics of family and sexual violence and we need innovative approaches to break the cycle,” Radhakrishnan added.
The New Zealand Police look into more than 100,000 cases of domestic violence annually, according to the Ministry of Justice.
According to the Ministry of Justice, police received 9,723 reports of sexual violence in 2020, with about half of those who did so in New Zealand being under the age of 18 at the time.
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