Bell Let's Talk Day is January 29, 2020. What can you do to make sure that everyone feels safe talking about their mental health?
We're having a contest to challenge your classroom to discuss and brainstorm ideas about ways to help yourself or others take care of their feelings. Four winning classes will win a pizza party! Full contest details are below.
What is mental health?
We can take care of our bodies by eating healthy food, getting enough sleep at night, brushing our teeth, and getting exercise. These things keep our bodies working properly so that we can do things like play with our friends outside, learn new things at school, chew our food, or play hockey.
Mental health talks about how we take care of our thoughts and feelings. We can take care of our thoughts and feelings by talking to someone we love or trust when we feel upset, crying if we feel sad, or asking for help. Our mental health is just as important to take care of as the health of our body. If we stopped taking care of our body by eating junk food, not sleeping at night, and not getting any exercise, our body would start feeling sick.
The same thing happens if we don’t take good care of our feelings. We might feel sad all the time, stop wanting to spend time with our friends, or quit doing activities that we used to love doing. If we feel sad, scared, or angry all of the time, it can cause problems with our friends, teachers, or family. Taking good care of our feelings and thoughts is very important for a healthy and happy life.
Lots of people find it hard to talk about their feelings or emotions. Talking about feelings often makes people feel scared, uncomfortable, or awkward.
Why is that? A few reasons could be:
Some people are worried that other people will judge or make fun of them for feeling bad
Some people think that nobody cares about their feelings
Some people don’t have anyone that they can trust to talk to
Can you think of other reasons?
Since our mental health is so important, we have to make it easier for people to talk to each other about their thoughts and feelings. What can YOU do to help other people?
Contest Details
On January 29, brainstorm as a class as many ideas as you can think of about the ways that you can help yourself or others take care of their feelings. Then, use the thought bubbles (download here) to write the ideas out, and put them up around your classroom or school!
Get creative - you could draw, colour, or even add glitter to your bubbles! Have someone take photos of your thought bubbles and email them to ctrist@kerc.ca by January 31.
FOUR classes will have the chance to WIN!
Here are some examples of things that you could write:
I can stand up to a bully if I see a classmate being teased
If I see someone who looks upset, I can ask them what’s wrong and how I could help them
If I have a bad day, I could talk to someone I trust about how I feel
The winning class will have their photos posted to social media and WIN everything needed for an awesome class pizza party!
Submissions will be entered into a draw and chosen at random. Contest is open to classes Grade 2 and up in the following schools that are supported by Kwayaciiwin's School Success Team: Kasabonika Lake, Saugeen, Kingfisher Lake, Wapekeka, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninwug, Muskrat Dam, Mishkeegogamang, and Wunnumin Lake.
Download the thought bubble template here. Or create your own!
For more information about Bell Let's Talk, visit their website at letstalk.bell.ca