World Mental Health Day Campaign Engages 5,000+ Students

03 Nov, 2021

Summary: World Mental Health Day Campaign by FairGaze, i2u saw active engagements from 5,000+ school students across India. A panel of esteemed experts came together to share their experience on mental wellbeing among the youth and also announced the winners of the month-long campaign launched on the occasion of World Mental Health Day by FairGaze, the leading school media and an engagement ecosystem for holistic development in association with India Is Us, which supports over 100 NGOs. The panel discussions urged the need to create awareness and acceptance of mental health in spite of the social stigmas and stereotypes attached.

New Delhi, 3 November 2021: World Mental Health Day Campaign by FairGaze, i2u saw active engagements with 5,000+ school students across India. A panel of esteemed experts came together to share their experience on mental wellbeing among the youth and also announced the winners of the month-long campaign launched on the occasion of World Mental Health Day by FairGaze, the leading school media and an engagement ecosystem for holistic development in association with India Is Us, which supports over 100 NGOs. The panel discussions urged the need to create awareness and acceptance of mental health in spite of the social stigmas and stereotypes attached.

A strong all-women panel of experts in fields related to mental health, psychology and education, delved into the role schools play in a child’s mental health, performance pressure on students to do well in studies, how to prioritise mental health, mental health’s impact on the overall health of children, increasing prevalence of mental health issues, etc.

The panellists included Dr. Ragini Kaul, Principal of Maxfort School, Ms. Aditi Srivastav, Senior Teacher at Transcendental Meditation, Ms. Anita Sharma, Principal of S.D. Public School, Dr. Tayzn Rehman, an NLP specialist, and a Cancer Warrior, Dr. Bhavna Chadha an acclaimed Neuro Clinical Psychologist, and Dr. Madhumati Singh, Child Psychologist and Director at FairGaze, who was also the moderator of the session.

Sharing her thoughts on the school education system and added pressure of attending external coaching impacting a child’s mental health, Dr. Ragini Kaul said, "School plays a vital role in reducing the pressure as these are the foundation years where a child develops various skills and develops a personality for life."

Dr. Ragini Kaul stressed the fact that what the school has inculcated in a child is crucial as it even impacts the life of a student beyond their schooling years well into their adult lives. She also spoke against the trend that promotes coaching centres as a necessity, which adds to the burden of the child’s life. She encouraged parents to instill their faith back in the schools.

Dr. Madhumati Singh rightly pointed out that PTM’s should be more focused on finding out what a child is good at and encouraging them to grow instead of belittling them and shaming them for their weaknesses.

Emphasising the strong and common demand to succeed from students, Ms. Aditi Shrivastav said, "As parents and teachers we want our students to do well, excel, and want them to be all-rounders. It is possible to achieve all of this and achieve more than that because there is a huge potential that everyone has. But, the one important thing is the foundation needs to be solid so as to be anchored within. One has to be mentally healthy to rise above.”

Dr. Bhavna Chadha fittingly summarised the entire discussion and said, “Let’s change the definition from the pursuit of success to pursuit to happiness.” She added, “The unique quality of oneself is the biggest achievement you are born with, whatever one achieves after that is an addition to that achievement.”

This session ended with an announcement of the winners of the World Mental Health Day Campaign and all the participants for making this month-long campaign on spreading awareness about mental health, a spectacular success.

FairGaze is the leading school media and an engagement ecosystem for holistic development, which works with various stakeholders and policymakers, including organisers of premium events associated with the education industry. FairGaze engages with over 350,000 students from over 13,000 schools across India. FairGaze works with schools to help manage their newsletter, conduct holistic development programs, promote the sports and cultural functions of the schools and recognise the achievements of the students.