Words for Wellbeing, Term 4- Christmas Edition, 2022
Welcome to Words for Wellbeing
To our Emmanuel College Community,
Welcome to the fourth and final edition of Words for Wellbeing for 2022 - our Christmas Edition!
We hope you've found our new format this year helpful and full of interesting articles, self-help tools and resources.
At the end of the newsletter, you'll find a recently updated list of school and external services and contacts for your information in case of need over the holiday break.
Your Fit4Life Wellbeing team look forward to working with you all in 2023.
Stay safe and well over the holiday period.
Christmas
Social Wellbeing
Staying Safe on your Socials over Summer
School holidays means more technology time and while we'd love you to spend more time outdoors with your friends, chances are you may be tempted to rely more on social media.
Just in case you do, here are some top tips and advice on how to keep safe on social media over the summer!
Tips for consent to share photos and video
Ask before taking the photo or video
When recording someone, it’s important to check your intentions. Are you taking an image to mock someone? Are they comfortable having their image taken? If they aren’t, it’s probably best to put the phone or camera away
Ask before sharing photos of people and respect their decision
It’s that simple! If they say they’re uncomfortable with a photo, then respect their decision.
If someone asks you to remove an image or video of them, do it
Respecting the choices and decisions your mates make about their personal privacy means they are more likely to respect your choices and decisions too.
Follow your instincts and be smart about what you post
If you don’t feel good about posting a photo or video of someone because you think it could have long term consequences for them, don’t post it.
Remember: Once you post or share something, you can lose control of the content. This can have devastating consequences or impact the mental health of people who may not have wanted the image to be shared in the first place. It could even mean that you, or your friends, miss out on jobs or other opportunities in the future.
Find out more about your digital footprint.
Be an upstander
If you see someone recording, or taking a photo of someone else without their consent, and you feel comfortable and safe to do so, you can help the person being targeted. This is called being an upstander.
- Check in on the person who appears in the image or video. If someone’s image has been shared without their consent and you know the person who is being targeted, reach out to them. Let them know you have their back and make sure they are OK.
- Stop the sharing of embarrassing and inappropriate content of others. If someone sends you a photo or video that you know would be embarrassing for the person in it, don’t forward it to other people. Break the chain of disrespect. You can also tell the person who originally sent it to you to stop forwarding it on too. This is especially important if the images that were sent to you are nudes.
Pressures from social media
Social media can be a great way to stay in touch with friends, but sometimes it can also cause us to compare our lives to others, or feel like we need to be constantly connected.
It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the posts you see on social media reflect real life, when most of the time they are showing you a lifestyle about as realistic as a movie set.
You might even do it too. Whether it is putting a few filters on your selfie, planning a ‘candid’ photo or posting about a night out that wasn’t actually as fun as you say it was, we all create online personas that show the best parts of our offline lives and erase the times when we feel a little bit down, depressed or just plain flat.
The pressures from social media are very real and they have consequences for all of us. They can affect your mental health and how you feel about yourself. Here are some tips on how to deal with the pressures from social media.
What to do
Check yourself
If you’re feeling unsure about posting something, ask yourself why am I doing this? Is it because you are trying to look a certain way online? If what you’re posting online is more about keeping up a certain appearance, it’s probably best not to post it. Being yourself online is just as important as being yourself offline. Stick to posting things that reflect who you really are, and make you feel good about yourself.
Social media is not real life
Think critically about what you see online — a lot of posts are not 100% real. Behind every staged post is someone taking the same photo 30 times with different angles or carefully placing things to make it look natural. Remember, celebrities put filters on their photos or stage things to make it appear as if their life is way more interesting than it really is. And celebrities have bad days too — even though this may not be apparent from their social media feeds.
Unfollow accounts that make you feel bad
Go through the accounts you follow and ask yourself whether they are making you feel positive or negative. Then unfollow accounts that make you feel bad about yourself and follow the accounts that make you feel good. Try to keep your feed full of posts that are inspiring or reflect things that you are genuinely interested in, rather than posts that make you feel angry or bad about yourself.
Turn off your notifications and have a phone-free day
If you feel like you are spending too much time scrolling through your feed and it is contributing to the pressure you feel, try switching off. If you feel like you’re getting caught in a social media loop, it can be good to break it up and log off for a while. Leave your phone at home and get out there.
Talk to someone
The pressures from social media can make you feel isolated and like everyone else is having a fantastic time, even though this may not be the case. If you feel like you want to talk to someone, or you are getting depressed, reach out to one of these online and phone counselling services for help and support.
Mental Wellbeing
Mental Health Month
This October, for Mental Health Month we ran a range of activities to promote health and wellbeing! Check out what we got up to below!
Batyr
The Year 9's and 10's got to listen to a presentation from Batyr about someone's personal lived experience.
Cultural Wellbeing
Summer Flicks
OUR TOP WATCHES:
STUTZ (Netflix): In candid conversations with actor Jonah Hill, leading psychiatrist Phil Stutz explores his early life experiences and unique, visual model of therapy.
SPIRITED (Apple TV): A musical version of Charles Dickens's story of a miserly misanthrope who is taken on a magical journey
WHAT'S COMING TO NETFLIX IN DECEMBER!
A Christmas Carol (2022) Netflix Original –DEC 2
“Sr.” (2022) Netflix Original – DEC 2
Last Chance U: Basketball (Season 2) - DEC 13
The Recruit (Season 1) - DEC 16
Emily in Paris (Season 3) - DEC 21
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) - DEC 23
After Ever Happy (2022) - DEC 25
Cognitive Wellbeing
Headspace - Back to School
Spiritual Wellbeing
Summer Tunes - Spotify Playlists
We have created these three spotify playlists for you from our students top picks for you to listen to over summer!! How to find the playlists: in the Spotify app using the search bar, tap the camera and scan the below codes or search for Wellbeing Team - Emmanuel College.
We have also put together a special Christmas playlist with all of your favourite Christmas songs and carols to get you in the Christmas spirit!!
Useful Information
