Students combating mental health
A pair of Kristin Senior School students, Head Prefect Randal Yao and fellow Prefect Matthew Zheng are leading from the front with initiatives to tackle mental health discussions among students.
Their first initiative is the State of Mind group that they have created at Kristin. Open to all Senior School students and teachers, the group meets once a week and aims to create a safe space for students to discuss mental health without the fear of judgement. Different perspectives are shared and talked through openly, with many refreshing ideas and outcomes.
For Randal, this is a passion project and something he believes is incredibly important for today’s students –
“There are a lot of issues and complexities in our world today that affect a student’s mental health. Rather than a group therapy session, we wanted to create a place where open discussion can be had without any judgment and help to combat the stigmatisation that surrounds mental health. Mental health is important, and taking care of yourself mentally should be the norm, and hopefully, this group can help to do that among Kristin students.”
Not only are they doing great work here at Kristin, but Randal and Matthew are also working with other schools on a wider mental health-related project called ‘The ASK Project’ – which stands for The Auckland Schools Kowhai Project.
As part of the ASK Project, they have been collaborating with students from other schools to provide resource packs and raise awareness among fellow students of the importance of positive mental health.
The project also aims to raise funds for mental health initiatives and has some events in the pipeline, including a speakers seminar and a concert to assist with these fundraising and awareness-raising efforts. They are also in discussions with some established organisations to collaborate with.
“We are privileged with our wellbeing services here at Kristin, but other schools aren’t so lucky. By disseminating resource packs, which are now being used and shared at many schools around Auckland, and organising events, we want to ensure the things we are doing here, like the State of Mind group, are being done at other schools to combat mental health.” – explains Randal.
We are proud of these two students who are on a path to better mental health in our community here at Kristin and afar.
