Kids are too young to experience any real problems at 12 years old, right?
Wrong! Trauma, bullying, and bad situations have no age limit.
Oklahoma teacher Karen Loewe understands this and has decided to try and help her middle school students deal with it.
At the beginning of class, Karen sets out a small assignment to her kids to anonymously write down whatever issues they are facing. Once that is done, she asks her students to crumple them up and then collects them in a bag. This bag hangs by the classroom door.
The idea behind this is that everyone has issues, but they can only hold you back if you let them, so leave them at the door.
The students are free to write about any issue they want to, big or small. From an annoying sibling, to a death in the family, and even abuse, each student has things that are on their minds, and Karen wants to try and help her students deal with them.
“Don’t let the past define you. It happened. It made you who you are, but don’t dwell on it forever and ever. You’ve got to move past it.”
At different points during the school day Karen will take a few of the notes and read them aloud, this is not done to embarrass or humiliate anybody, it is so that all the students know that everybody else is going through their own issues too. Karen also ensures all the notes stay anonymous which helps the kids peace of mind.
Unfortunately, the rate of suicides, and attempted suicides, by young people has steadily grown over the years.
While age, race, and gender do affect these statistics, it really doesn’t matter as the fact remains that it is happening, and it is going to continue happening if nothing is done about it. Karen Loewe is doing her best to decrease these numbers by actively acknowledging that they exist and working towards creating a safe space in her classroom.
Karen has come to be somebody that her students trust, she is, in some of the kids’ cases, the only adult who seems to care.
While this is the first year Karen has done this activity, she plans to continue it for as long as she continues teaching. The bag hangs by her classroom door everyday as a reminder that, just because you might not all be struggling with the same things, everyone has struggles.
Here are just a few of the help services available to anyone thinking of harming themselves or others:
Kids Help Phone: Call 1-800-668-6868, or text CONNECT to 686868
Suicide and Crisis Hotline: Dial 988
Child Helpline International: Text 741741, or call 1-800-4-A-CHILD (2-24453), or call 866-488-7386, or text START to 678678
If you are struggling, please reach out! Tell a parent, friend, or teacher, or contact any of the numbers listed above.
Watch the inspiring video below.
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