‘Really cool’ response to teens’ mental health journal venture
Three enterprising high school students have developed a journal for young people struggling with their mental health.
New Plymouth Girls’ High School year 13 students Charli Moss, 17, Pearl Lauderdale-smith, 18, and Hannah Taylor, 17, designed the journals through the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES).
The trio put a lot of thought into the design, such as the colour – green is calming and relaxing, and the name of their business, Māramatanga, means understanding and growth.
They talked with mental health advocates Sir John Kirwan and Mike King, and got advice, quotes and activities for the journal, which is titled It Matters.
The trio wanted to do something that helped people and wasn’t already on the market, Lauderdale-smith said.
‘‘And we wanted to help youth in particular. It’s something that kind of we wish that we had when we needed it. With Covid, and everything, it’s just been a really stressful couple of years for everyone.’’
They had received lots of positive feedback, she said.
‘‘It’s been really nice to see that it’s genuinely helping people. Because at the end of the day, that was our goal. It wasn’t to make money.’’
Moss said she had owned journals before but never wrote in them. ‘‘But in this you can draw, you can write, but it also has prompts and stuff, which helps you to get your thoughts going.’’
The trio held a quiz last year and raised $800 to help with printing costs. They also got company sponsorship, Moss said.
‘‘We asked companies to sponsor 10 journals, but they distributed them to schools. And that helped with the printing costs as well. And we ended up selling over 100 through the companies. And at the end of last year, we had sold over 200 journals.’’
They also sold them at the Seaside Market last year, she said.
‘‘That was our first experience of actually selling them in public. And we realised the range of people who were interested.
‘‘We had grandmas who wanted them for their granddaughters. And adults, parents, kids, a whole range of people and genders as well.’’
Taylor said that through the sponsorship, they were able to donate journals to nine locations across Taranaki, such as Women’s Refuge, YMCA and some intermediate schools.
‘‘Originally, we thought it was aimed and targeted towards teenage girls. But we’ve kind of realised anyone can use it, like my younger brother – he really enjoyed it. So that was really cool to see.’’
The journals cost $20 each. Anyone wanting one can email maramatanga. business@gmail.com or visit the website maramatanga-mental-health. mystorbie.com