by Eitan Shaerf,  Nancy Reuben Primary School

DURING Mental Health Awareness Week, me and a few friends of mine introduced an iFeel podcast designed for children, by children. Our aim is to help children find their smile.

We want children to speak out if they are facing challenges or problems.

We began the podcast with a letter from someone who was feeling very worried and anxious about under-performing at school and letting her parents, friends and teachers down. Then we responded with helpful suggestions and comforting messages. We also sent the letter, along with a set of questions, to a professional psychotherapist, Janine Tamman, who answered our queries.

Some of her responses explained how ‘normal’ these feelings are and gave useful suggestions of ways to help you not feel this way, especially speaking to someone who can help you. “Keep calm, think positively and we will find a way to help you through those difficult times,” she said.

Additionally, we implemented an initiative called One, Two, Free! This is where we get to talk about things that really make us happy and the best thing about them, which is that they are absolutely free!

One student started off with her reasons to be cheerful: gymnastics and her baby brother.

The podcast was the start of an iFeel series, with a new episode every couple of weeks. Each one will have different students from our year, as well as top-notch experts to offer their words of wisdom.

We want to discover why children have lost their smiles and what we can do to help them find them again.

To listen to our podcast, go to Apple Podcasts and search iFeel Facing Challenges.