Healthy NewsWorks reporters, ages 8 to 14, spent the past school year focusing on the theme of “How We Heal,” addressing the social and emotional challenges that kids are experiencing today.
The young journalists spoke with therapists, educators, scientists, artists, athletes, and others to produce dozens of illustrations, blog posts, and news articles; a book, How We Heal: Leading Healthy Change in Our Communities; and a film.
We asked participants in our program to tell us what this year’s theme meant to them, and what they learned. This is what they told us:
“First, I learned about emotions and feelings when we are in a certain situation. And if we are feeling a negative emotion, we can use coping skills like taking a walk, using [a] fidget, talking to someone, and taking a power nap. Second, I took place in some interviews, and I talked about mindfulness and emotions. Also, we talked about … what teachers would do if they are getting frustrated with their students or with themselves.” —4th grader
“I learned that some of the smallest things can change your life. Maybe it’s something that helped you heal mentally or physically.” —5th grader
“What i have learned this year is that we should take some time to relax yourself, because a lot of things are going on in our life. Also, I have learned [to take] time to understand nature and looking all over our beautiful world.” —5th grader
“…Being a news reporter has been good. Made me improve just a little on my writing and paraphrasing. … I hope the new students that get to do this like it. Maybe it gives them an idea of what they want to do in the future.” —7th grader
“Things I’ve learned are setting boundaries, and not leaving much room for misunderstandings. Be upfront. Control the situations that you can control, and don’t leave the bad possibilities up to chance. Sometimes all you need to heal is time. Some problems need more than one person—two heads are better than one.” —8th grader
“Healing is important because if you’re not healed, you aren’t happy. Something I also learned this year was that in order to heal, you need to accept what has happened. Focus on the future, and don’t stress yourself too much.” —7th grader
