- New Zealand believes it is time for its teens to say “thank you, next” to their ex-boyfriends.
- The Ministry of Social Development will give the Love Better campaign $4 million.
- The Love Better campaign is part of the government’s larger national policy.
New Zealand believes it is time for its teens to say “thank you, next” to their ex-boyfriends and is paying millions to make it happen.
The Ministry of Social Development will give the Love Better campaign $4 million (NZ$ 6.4 million) over three years to assist youth recover from breakups and limit harm in their relationships, according to reports.
The campaign is being pushed by New Zealand’s young and one of the government’s top priorities, according to the government.
“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.
“Breakups suck,” a promotional video for the campaign declares. The video features clips of teens talking about needing to block their exes and move on from their past relationships, with one saying: “This is getting ridiculous. This is getting so out of hand. I need to sleep at night. I need to get over her.”
Youthline, an organisation committed to assisting individuals aged 12 to 24, is running a dedicated phone, text, or email helpline for young people going through a breakup as part of the campaign, which employs the phrase “own the feelings.” Youthline will get a share of the $4 million to assist expand its existing 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, reports.
A poll of 1,200 young New Zealanders conducted by the Ministry of Social Development indicated that 68% had experienced something awful “beyond the ‘normal’ hurt of breaking up.”
The campaign’s purpose, according to Radhakrishnan, is to help young people through “these formative experiences” in the hopes of favourably influencing how they approach future relationships.
The Love Better campaign is part of the government’s larger national policy to end family and sexual violence.
“New Zealand has shameful statistics of family and sexual violence and we need innovative approaches to break the cycle,” Radhakrishnan added.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the New Zealand Police investigate more than 100,000 cases of domestic violence each year.
According to the Ministry of Justice, police received 9,723 allegations of sexual assault in 2020, and over half of those who reported a sexual violence crime in New Zealand were under the age of 18 at the time of the occurrence.
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