Have you felt like the educational system and school administrations don’t sufficiently take into account students mental health and treat it with equal importance as they do physical health? Do you feel like mental health considerations have only gotten worse during the pandemic?

Then you need to sign this petition.

Dear schools and school administrations,

Taking into account students mental health is extremely necessary for us to break through the stigma that is present around the topic and encourage students to take care of their mental health in various ways. It is imperative to promote the concept that a sound mind is equally as important as a healthy body and needs to be taken care of.

Project Humrahi, which is a campaign by students, for students was started because students from all over India came together and through talking and exchanging stories, we realized that all of us were facing similar issues with regards to our experience in school and how mental health is not taken seriously, especially during the ongoing pandemic. We thus realized the need for a mental health charter and the need to make schools commit to increased mental health considerations for students.

Recent research has shown, students are facing high levels of distress in the form of anxiety, depression and other psychological issues (Cao et al. 2020) that are mostly a result of difficulty in transitioning to online mode of classes (Agha, 2020), poor economic conditions, daily life events and hampered academic activities (Rehman et al. 2020). Thus, looking at the current situation of students’ mental health all over the country, it is high time schools take action and make a concrete, positive change that will help students be a better version of themselves. This petition is not just limited to the pandemic and aims for increased mental health considerations for school students in a post pandemic situation as well.

We firmly believe that because students spend so much of their time in schools/ colleges and currently have online classes for better part of the day, school administrations are obligated to and need to create a safe space for students and make sure mental health issues are not ignored.

What we want

We want schools to sign a Mental Health Charter to show and formalize their commitment towards taking into consideration students mental health in their daily administration and running of the school. By signing this charter, you are committing to promote healthy mental health policies and protocols in your school that will contribute to positive mental health of students and ensure that your school is transparent in operating within an anti-discriminatory paradigm in reaching to students from all socio-economic backgrounds.

Actions laid out in this charter includes but is not limited to :

• Introducing an effective mental health literacy model along with organizing compulsory training sessions taking by the school counsellor/ a professional for the teachers so that they can learn informed ways of tackling students with mental health issues
• Introducing an Open-Door Policy to encourage students to seek help and take the concept of mental illness seriously, without stigma and introduce selfcare strategies for students to use and follow
• To accommodate student’s mental health when it comes to assignment giving and leaves or absences along with making parents aware and informed about mental health issues and best practices

Sign this petition now to help students have better mental health. It is imperative for us to care about students because they are the future and it is the need of the hour to make India care about mental health and mental health issues.

If you are a student and want to get in touch with us and download the entire 11 point charter to show your school administration, email us at project.humrahi@gmail.com

Petitioner

Project Humrahi (@project.humrahi on instagram)