I love that film ‘The Mask’ with Jim Carrey. There’s a great line in it where the psychologist says in a dry and weary tone, ‘We all wear masks’. I’ve so often heard people talk about the masks people wear but I’ve got to be honest, amongst the busyness and challenge of a day working with at-risk young people, it can be so easy to forget that I’m looking at the mask the young person is wearing rather than the person behind it...

One of the best discussions had today was with a young man who was in trouble this week for arguing with his teacher. His excuse? ‘Everyone else was arguing with him!’...