Semicolon - a Mental Health and Wellbeing Dialogue

On the occasion of October 10th: World Mental Health Day, GEMS International School, Gurgaon conducted 'Semicolon - a Mental Health and Wellbeing Dialogue'. The need for raising consciousness for social-emotional health and well-being cannot be emphasized enough. In the aftermath of the pandemic of social isolation, we are all privy to growing challenges around mental health and well-being. Parents, teachers, and young people are all helplessly watching a steep rise in anxiety, irrational fears, aggression, addiction, stress disorders, bullying, depression, and many more mental health concerns. We aren't just

coping with it; we are also often suffering through a lot of these concerns ourselves!

Our theme was ';' (a semicolon). It inspires strength, affirmation, and solidarity in the midst of suffering. This was inspired by Project Semicolon, a non-profit founded by Amy Bleuel in 2013, which chose a semicolon as a symbol that represents continuation, not an end. "Used when an author could have chosen to end their sentence but chose not to." It marks a decision to move forward, not to stop.

As educators, we had some serious consciousness-raising conversations among various stakeholders across school communities. We collaborated to acknowledge and address these growing concerns and mainstream SEL in education. The mental health and wellbeing dialogue comprised Expert Talks, Consciousness-raising Dialogues, Therapeutic Art & Mindfulness Groups and much more... This was just the beginning and many more dialogues will sprout a multitude of thoughts and widen this circle of well-being.