HAT Program
H.A.T. the acronym
HAT stands for Here’s A Thought. We believe the most effective way to engage young people in important wellbeing conversations is through gentle, thought-provoking ideas – paired with inspiring artwork!
HAT the wellbeing tool
Each HAT is also a unique dose of wellbeing wisdom. Every HAT combines a Thought, an Image, and an Insight – offering young people food for thought, fresh perspectives and practical tools for navigating life.
Each HAT has been carefully crafted to address a key aspect of one of the ten biggest worries faced by adolescents. You can explore these worries below.
The HAT Wellbeing Program
The growing collection of HATs, together with comprehensive lesson resources, forms the heart of our innovative school wellbeing program. Thoughtfully designed to meet young people where they are, the HAT Wellbeing Program bravely addresses the real and often unspoken worries that weigh on adolescents. Through bite-sized wisdom, practical tools, and guided conversations, the program helps students make sense of their challenges, build resilience, and find healthy ways forward. It’s not just about teaching wellbeing – it’s about creating space for curiosity, compassion, and meaningful growth in every classroom.
The HAT Wellbeing Library
The HAT Library currently features 40 unique HATs, each thoughtfully designed to support the needs of Middle School and Senior School students. Every HAT delivers a carefully crafted blend of gentle thoughts, inspiring imagery, and practical insights to help young people navigate life’s challenges. The library continues to grow and evolve, with new HATs released each month — ensuring the content remains fresh, relevant, and responsive to the worries and needs of adolescents.
The 10 Most Common Worries of Young People
HAT’s unique messages are built on evidence-based strategies that address the ten most common worries of adolescents. Extensive longitudinal and emerging research – involving tens of thousands of young people in Australia and around the world – has helped identify the issues that teenagers worry about and care about most deeply. HAT has been thoughtfully designed to tackle these concerns through a solution-focussed lens, offering young people inspiration, practical tools, and new ways of thinking.
The ten key areas of concern that HAT addresses are:
I worry about the damage we’re doing to the planet and the realities of climate change. I feel frustrated that governments, organisations, and schools aren’t doing enough — and I often feel powerless to make a real difference.
I worry about how I look and constantly find myself comparing my body to others. It’s hard to accept and love myself as I am, and sometimes I regret the way I treat my body. I wish I could feel more comfortable in my own skin.
I worry about my mental health and whether I’m coping well enough. I try to stay strong, but the emotions I experience are complicated, and sometimes it feels like I’m barely keeping my head above water.
My family matters to me, but I worry about the changes and uncertainty I feel at home. Relationships shift, tensions rise, and sometimes it feels like family can be just as stressful as it is important.
I know I’m unique, but I still worry about who I really am and what I stand for. I struggle to feel truly comfortable with myself and wish I felt more secure in my identity.
Friendships can feel fragile, and I worry about fitting in and staying connected. I’m not always sure how to handle friendship issues, and I worry about my friends’ health and wellbeing as much as my own.
I worry about school — my grades, my motivation, and whether I’m doing enough. Even when I do well, I feel uncertain about what comes next and what I really want for my future.
The world feels unpredictable, and I worry about what my future holds. I wonder if I’ll make the right choices and whether I’m ready for all the changes and challenges that lie ahead.
I worry about my safety in a world that sometimes feels dangerous and unpredictable. News of violence, war, intolerance, and disasters makes it hard to know who or what I can trust.
I love being connected, but I worry that technology controls me more than I control it. I struggle to switch off, fear missing out, and constantly worry about how I appear on social media.