Samarthya, XLRI conducts its annual conference Reflections
Jamshedpur: Samarthya, a student body at XLRI to help school students realize their full potential by focusing on social and emotional learning, successfully conducted Reflections 2020, its annual conference, in the online mode. The event focused on “Mental Health and the Pandemic: Its implications and how to cope.”
Reflections 2020 emphasized the importance of mental health, especially during these challenging times, and initiated discussions amongst students, teachers, and parents on various issues that affect school children, like their social connections, physical health, and performance in studies. It is imperative to help students and their families deal with the anxiety and confusion that the current pandemic has brought about.
The event saw participation by over 150 students from three different schools Dayanand Public School, DAV Public School, and Tarapore School in Jamshedpur. School students engaged in various fun-filled interactive activities to better understand emotions and cultivate good mental health practices to fight the negative impacts of this pandemic and ensure mental well-being. Even the school teachers and parents who participated in the event got valuable insights on identifying difficult emotions and their impact on the kids.
Some of the common questions the school children had asked during sessions were, “I’m always worried about doing well in school?; How do I cope with the academic pressure?; How do I identify and work on my emotions and feelings?”
To debunk the myths about mental health, an interactive quiz session was conducted. Participants were asked to assess how they felt during a particular situation with the help of a thought record worksheet; they could easily pinpoint emotions and work upon alternative thought processes they can adopt. It helped the students understand various existing misconceptions about mental health and the stigma attached to a person suffering from these issues.
Several engaging activities were conducted to make the children comfortable in sharing their thoughts about the topic. A video explaining mental health issues amongst students and what they can do to get support from each other was shown and discussed with the students to help break the stigma. The students could relate well to the instances shown and even cited examples of some of their favorite celebrities who have talked about their mental health.
The Guest Speaker for the conference Dr. Pooja Mohanty, a Psychotherapist at XLRI- Xavier Institute of Management, commented, “The unfortunate pandemic which the world suffers from, today has shifted our mental make-up to complexity and confusions. Yet, borrowing from the spiritual teachings and even from modern science today, we understand that there basic interconnectivity in everything, and nothing happens without our participation. Therefore, it is wise to keep our sanity at the deepest inner level with peace and harmony even though the outer world may seem sinking and a total mess. That is exactly how one feels in the awakened state. To feel this wonderful sense of peace, there is a requirement for our transformation. This revolution happens neither in our perceived futures or in our memorized pasts; it finds you peace only here and now in your being in the present moment. “