Being a Teenager can be quite a complex period in your life filled with lots of questions. My TeenMind is an app with all those questions you may want to ask about your mental, physical and emotional health. It will provide you with easy to read definitions, signs to look out for, advice and where to get help in both your school and your community.
My TeenMind is an essential Health and Wellbeing app that allows young people to gauge their mental health and provides information on where to seek help if they need it. The primary function of the app is to encourage young people to take control of their situations: to encourage emotional intelligence and resilience.
The APP, believed to be the first mental health app in the UK specifically designed for young people by young people, was designed in collaboration with Gaia Technologies & students at the Magna Carta School in Staines-upon-Thames, which has been recognised by the Surrey Educational Trust for its commitment to promoting wellbeing for pupils through a number of on-going projects.
Application Features:
There is a mood tracker with emojis reflecting: happy, ok, anxious, sad, angry moods. This feature allows them to track their daily moods and enable reflection on any patterns they see occurring and possible links this may have with what happens on those days that may be triggering that mood.
There are 5 sections. In each section there are topics relating to mental, emotional and physical health offering short punchy definitions, signs, advice and where to get help.
My Body
- Body Image
- Eating Disorders
- Healthy Eating
- Puberty
- Sex and Gender
My Mind
- Depression
- Self Harm
- Stress
My Relationships
- Bullying
- Friendship
- Peer pressure & sexting
- Sex and Consent
My Relaxation
- 3 audio recordings ranging from 1.5 minutes to 10 minutes encouraging Mindfulness breathing techniques
My Environment
-Map of the school letting students know where the WELLBEING ZONE is
Whos behind the app?
-The app was developed by Gaia Technologies in collaboration with students at the Magna Carta School in Staines-upon-Thames.
Gaia Technologies are the leading, DfE approved provider of ICT products, ICT services, ICT solutions & ICT Managed Services to UK Schools, Colleges & Universities
Clare Erasmus, The Head of Health and Wellbeing & Media Studies teacher created a cross curricular scheme of work which she delivered with her year 9 media students over the period of a term. Together with weekly SKYPE sessions with Gaia Tech the aim was to get the students to learn how to design and build an app but also encourage an awareness about teenage mental health helping the students to deal with the many topics and encourage them to become more resilient.
The Health and Wellbeing App was the result of research work carried out by the school, to ensure students are involved in the design and provision of wellbeing services within the school, Mental Health Charity Woking Mind, Mental Health Nurses, Social Workers and Educational professionals have all inputted into the content of the APP with the students doing the essential research and signing it off.
Special Thanks goes to:
The 2015/16 Year 9 Media Students (you can view their blog on the YOUNG MINDS website)
Head of Health and Wellbeing & Media Studies Teacher: Clare Erasmus
Deputy Head Teacher: Chris Edwards
Sharon Brautigan: Director of eLearning
Yoga and Mindfulness Breathing recordings: Cathy Jones
Julia Dee
Dr Rita Rebholz
Woking Mind Charity
Young Minds Charity
The Magna Carta School Staff