On Monday I organised for Kim Ho from St John’s to talk to our staff. She focused on some basic mental health awareness topics in light of the recent disruptions in Hong Kong, and some of the anxiety, stress, depressive and trauma related symptoms that some of us may have been experiencing.
She also touched on the dynamics of in group love, out group hate, and intergroup conflict as one perspective on understanding the polarization in our society today. Finally, she highlighted the importance of self care during stressful periods like this, and when it may be appropriate to seek professional support.
Finally, she focused on what we should be looking for, in terms of our children and what things we should and should not be saying to our children. As a school it is important that we remain neutral and our only focus is ensuring our children are safe and that we continue to do the things we have always done (stability).
My question to the parent body is whether or not you feel that a session like this, for our parents, would be useful. The session run by Kim would involve her presenting for 50 minutes and then having a Q&A for 20 minutes. The session would also focus on some parenting tips in light of our current situation in Hong Kong.
We will only offer the session to our parents if there is enough interest. Next week, I will be sending out a survey to gauge interest. Please fill in the survey if you would like to attend. At this stage we would plan for the session to start at 6.30pm with a finish time of around 7.40pm.