Students open up about their weaknesses
Alex Jones is afraid people will think he’s stupid.
“All the time, I think that if I’m not one of the best, that I’m one of the worst,” the 14-year-old admitted to a small group at St. Gregory School on Thursday.
Earlier in the week, he stood before a much larger group, sharing his insecurity with more than 200 people in a speech at a fundraiser banquet for Understand Us.
It wasn’t easy, but Jones’s Grade 7/8 class has spent the school year being honest and open about their vulnerabilities, and focusing on acts of kindness.
These lessons have come through the Me To You campaign, a partnership with Regina-based Understand Us, a non-profit organization that seeks to raise awareness of mental health. “They’re creating a conversation around something that is previously stigmatized,” said teacher Brett Matlock.
“If you have a cast, everyone wants to be the first to sign your cast. If you have depression, anxiety, you name it, no one wants to touch you with a 10-foot pole. So we’re creating a conversation around something and making it more normal.”
They began the Me To You campaign on the first day of school, gradually building a culture in the classroom of sharing openly.
“I thought it was pretty hard because it’s something that not everybody talks about, but when you start to talk about it, maybe you feel more comfortable about it, because everybody has a vulnerability,” said 12-year-old Kailey Collin, a Grade 7 student whose biggest fear is public speaking.
“Everyone has vulnerabilities and you shouldn’t be ashamed of them and you should be more open about them, whether it’s talking with friends, family, or again with strangers responding,” added Olivia Pearce, a 13-year-old who worries about making a bad first impression.
Pearce was one of Matlock’s students who shared their insecurities in a Me To You video project. It launched May 8 and received almost 10,000 views on Facebook in its first four days, with people able to respond to the video’s message.
“I think that talking about it does help a lot, because especially how people were responding (to the video),” said 12-year-old Emily Josvanger, who shares Collin’s anxiety of public speaking.
“Complete strangers that you don’t even know can think the same as you and have the same thoughts; it just shows you that you aren’t alone.”
It’s not easy for teenagers to share their weaknesses, said Jones.
But, when he starts at O’Neill High School this fall, he believes this project will be a help to him.
“I think that learning this is important because not all diseases or illnesses are physical. They are mental, and it’s important to realize that and just know that everyone has that; everyone thinks there’s something wrong with them at some point,” said Jones.
That includes their school principal.
“Having some anxiety and having gone through anxiety and depression, it’s scary to talk about it,” said Sharlene Holliday. “So these kids being so brave to talk about what it is that they’re saying is beyond amazing to me.
“They have given me actually the strength to talk about and say it’s OK, and to lean on people and to get the supports that I need.”