18 October 2021

3 Weeks, 3 Countries, 8 Adolescents

This summer, UNICEF and NYT Kids China invited adolescents from China, Romania and India to participate in a Pen Pal Initiative.  These kids, between 14 to 18 years old, share diverse cultural perspectives but also a common passion for mental health. Over the course of three weeks, they exchanged their inspiring ideas., 01 On Promoting Mental Health, Shirley Parents and schools could help in popularizing the importance of mental health and steps we can take to improve it. I think parents should take the responsibility to take care of their children’s mental health. I also believe that school, as an influential part of teenagers’ daily lives, could lead efforts to popularize mental health…, 02 On Peer Support, James When I or my friends face problems or difficulties, we would get together for a meal and talk it out. It is quite effective. I believe schools should guide students to correctly evaluate themselves and accept themselves. To achieve this, they can carry out psychological counseling activities. JAMES, China Shirley As teenagers, we can write…, 03 On Talking About Mental Health, Brianna Start conversations. Sometimes we are reluctant to talk about mental health because we are afraid what we might say isn’t what others want to hear. However, once the first step is taken, we will feel the support from people around us, and this will have a rippling effect. BRIANNA, China Paavani Widening our vocabulary to truly understand…