Samarthya, a student body of XLRI in order to help school students realise their full potential by focusing on social and emotional learning, successfully conducted Reflections 2020 on a virtual platform. The event focused on ‘Mental Health and the Pandemic: Its implications and how to cope.’
Reflections 2020 emphasised 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.
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 is 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. “