STORY PREVIEW

2024

Teenage Challenges

eduSOIL

MENTOR

Juanita Rea, Mayte and Salwa

Step 1 FEEL

List the challenges or problems in your surroundings (school,neighbourhood etc.) that bothered you.

Stress, Confidence, Feelings, Feeling unsafe, racism

State the problem chosen to work and why.

The issue we chose to address was teenage challenges and struggles. These include belittling, over-thinking, discrimination, bullying and racism. Our focus is how all of this affects teenagers mental health. Teenage mental health is characterized by intense feelings that feel like a roller coaster of emotional and psychological highs and lows. We chose this issue because it affects us as teenagers and we sometimes feel unhappy, depressed, anxious and stressed. We feel that people need to be more aware of this issue.

Who were the people affected by the problem? What were their primary concerns?

The people affected are Teenagers like us. Our concerns were how our mental health is affected by many external factors like social media and society. Then there are internal factors like our self-belief which can have a positive impact or self-doubt which can have a negative impact.

Step 2 IMAGINE

List ALL the different solutions you came up with.

We had many ideas and discussed making a drama piece, creating a painting, doing a multidisciplinary performance or making a video.

Which solution from those listed above did you choose to implement and why?

We chose to create a video by combining drawings, painting, animation, musical sounds, and vocal recordings. We decided to do this because it was the best way to bring together everyone’s ideas and talents. We envisioned that when the audience sees our completed video they will see teenagers' perspectives and experiences more clearly. We want them to be more understanding and empathetic towards us.

Step 3DO

Describe very briefly the process of implementing your solution(s).

To create our artwork we had many different roles and responsibilities. Mayar worked on the illustration and animation. Each of us wrote the script and recorded their own audio section. Lina did a painting portraying teenage emotions and Aya made a painting-collage about the impact of society on teenager’s lives. Sogood and Sagda focussed on racism and worked on painting 4 canvases to illustrate positivity and negativity. Adam helped to write the positive and negative words and we combined it with the paintings. The video is called a “Heads full of problems. Hearts full of Love.”

What was the result or impact of your project?

The project impacted us in many ways. Even though we all knew each other, by working on this project together, we got closer. During our project all our group members were open minded by sharing ideas. We were respectful by not making fun of each other’s opinions and by listening to each others ideas. At our online showcase event on Aug 18 and a live Awards and Celebrations event on October 10th. We reached over a 100 people. Everyone was very moved and said that it provided them with a new perspective on how teenagers felt.

How many people were impacted by your solution(s)?

100

What did the impacted people have to say about your project? Provide 2 quotes or testimonials:

The video was very well received and we got heart felt responses to the event like, "It impacted me in a bittersweet way, glad for the awareness the youth have but sad that they have to have this type of awareness. I would say continue to be empathetic, active and creative." and "Wow. This was deeply impressive. The young people articulated so effectively such complex emotions better than many adults can. Amazing cooperation. A good reminder of the intensity of the young people’s feelings."

What challenges did you encounter while implementing your project, and how did you overcome them?

We faced many challenges. In the beginning we couldn’t explain our ideas and we also couldn’t what we wanted to do and when. We used our superpowers to overcome our challenges by listening to each other, reflecting on our words, working to improve our artwork, and taking all our ideas and making into one project. As Lina and Dania and others became more confident, they were able to ask for the materials they needed. During our summer program it became unsafe for us to meet in person because there were protests targeting our ethnic minority community. We all felt very targeted and were not comfortable to leave our houses. The violence and feeling unsafe affected our mental health. We felt worried and sad. We met online to connect with each other and found other ways to complete our project and put it all together.

How long did it take to implement your solution?

MORE THAN 30 DAYS

Which global goals does your story align with?

Good health and well being

Please explain briefly why do you think so?

Our project addresses Global Goal of Good Health and Wellbeing because its about teenagers mental health and feeling that our racial and ethnic differences are respected.

Step 4 SHARE

How did you share your project with your school and community? Who did you share your project with? What was their response?

The Art For Change programme included an online Showcase Day on Aug 18th to present our projects and perform our art piece to an audience. The audience responded with enthusiasm, offering heartfelt feedback and engaging in discussions, reinforcing the power of art to inspire awareness and promote meaningful social change

Approximately how many people did you share your story of change with?

More than 100

Briefly share your plan to sustain the impact of your project?

Our artwork has been shared on YouTube and is already online on the eduSOIL platform. We hope to share this project at events and venues where it would be appreciated and have an impact.

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