In most middle schools, stigma weighs down on mental health, masking the reality of its severity and relevance in today’s society. Students are afraid to speak out about their feelings and prefer to hide their stress and worry behind a pained smile. We knew something had to be done about this.
The Shanti Club is a student-led club dedicated to re-educating students about mental health and removing the stigma surrounding it. We launched our club last year in September. Our first step to removing stigma was spreading awareness about suicide prevention.
During Suicide Prevention Week, we stuck a kindness post-it on all of the lockers in our school. A kind message, affirmation, or compliment was written on each post-it by other students in the school. This act gained lots of popularity throughout our school. Some students even posted about it on Snapchat!
In addition, we handed out suicide prevention bracelets to students. A TikTok about our efforts to spread awareness was posted; it got many views and comments such as, “That would have really changed the trajectory of my life had I received one of those sticky notes back [then].”
Our second step to removing the stigma against mental health was hosting club meetings to spread the facts about mental health. Our first Shanti Club meeting was about spreading kindness through positive messages and art. Club members drew kind messages and symbols with chalk on the sidewalk in front of the school. Participants enjoyed the interactive activity for its creativity and artisticness.
Although small, our club still works towards spreading awareness and eliminating stigma today. It’s never too late to join our club and help us remove the stigma and replace it with the facts about mental health. We are super excited to take our club meetings to the next level and spread it to other middle and high schools! We can’t wait to see where the Shanti Club is headed next!