“R U OK? was born from lived experience. The valuable insights, storytelling, and expertise of those with lived experience continue to be woven through everything we do.” — R U OK? (n.d.).
This is a sentiment I hold close as a school counsellor, not only on R U OK Day, but in every school day. Our young people, families, carers and wider community shape everything we do and it is their voices that continue to inform how we practice within the school environment.
R U OK Day is marked at Lakes Grammar not just to remind us of the impact of mental health and the importance of communication, but to remind us how we can hold ourselves in a conversation with a friend, colleague or member of our community. In the great words of R U OK? it is “a conversation that might just change a life”. Asking someone if they are okay tells them, in a small but powerful way, that they can be heard, safe and supported.
At Lakes Grammar, this looks like our Mental Health Advocacy Program (MHAP team), which encompasses a collective of students working alongside Mr Blaney, and student leaders across the school with their Deans and Heads of School in supporting young minds in exploring how okay someone may be. R U OK Day is a reminder that it is okay to ask the question, and that we need to be ready to stay in the conversation once we have asked it.
Today, our MHAP team brought this message to life in a simple but meaningful way, inviting our school to draw words and messages of wisdom on the concrete for the day. What emerged was a beautiful collection of reminders about what it can mean to feel supported including “be yourself, you are loved, you are heard, you are seen”. These words captured something important that knowing that someone sees you, accepts you and cares about you can make all the difference.
Whilst our young people cannot be expected to fix someone’s problems, they can be encouraged to listen to what their friend is saying, show they care, and tell a teacher, school counsellor or trusted adult if they are worried about them.
So this R U OK Day, and every school day after it, the invitation is simple: ask the question, and stay for the answer.
Mrs Lizzy Fisher
School Counsellor
