On the 31st of January it was Young Carers Awareness Day, and the theme this year was mental health. We chose to go to the cinema together because…
“Watching a film is like walking into another world”
“It inspires you”
“We’re giving the actors jobs”
“it’s relaxing”
“It’s good for conversations. You can talk about the film after with someone”
We went to the Vue in Leicester Square and before the film we had a chat about what we do keep up our mental health.
What do you do when you are feeling stressed which helps you feel better?
“I take a step back to think”
“I grab a squishy and squeeze it”
“I jump up and down on my bed”
“I punch a pillow”
“I scream into a pillow”
“If I’m upset with my mum, I scream at the mirror and pretend I’m screaming at my mum”
“I take a shower to calm down. It washes the stress away”
“I call a friend”
“I talk to my mum and she makes you laugh”
When things upset you, do you find it helpful to talk about it? Do any of your friends or teachers know you are young carers?
“only one of my friends knows”
“I will talk about it if people ask but I don’t really talk about it, because talking about it makes me sad and it doesn’t change anything”
“some people find talking about it helps but I don’t”
We watched Aquaman and afterwards we gave our reviews while we ate pizza and ice-cream.
Here are our reviews:
8 out of 10 “A very confusing film. I got bored halfway through. It had a moral to the story because it talked about pollution. It showed equality between a woman and a man. She was empowered”
7 out of 10 (“And that’s generous!”) I didn’t believe it…. How did she live in a cave for 20 years? I like true stories. I have seen better films
Anna – 10 out of 10 “It represented equality. I loved it. They showed how men have feelings. He was only ready to be King when he admitted that he was scared of a challenge” “The mother never showed her feelings, and the father did, but by the end of the film they had swapped roles, and she had learned to show her feelings and he had learned to be brave”
9 out of 10 “It was entertaining. It had meaning to me”
6 out of 10 “I loved the costumes and the attention to detail, like the octopus who was playing the drums”
What would you be doing if you weren’t here today?
‘If I wasn’t here, I’d be doing homework”
“If I wasn’t here I would be watching TV and feeling really bored”
“I liked it that we all talked together”
“I think other people should come but I don’t want it to get too big because I like talking in a small group” (everyone agreed)
What would encourage new people to come to this group? What would you say to encourage them?”
“If you come with an open mind it’s okay”
“you have to learn to make friends”
“Say details of what we are going to do”
“don’t judge a book by its cover”
“I thought there was going to be a lot more people” (but I’m glad it’s not a big group)
“have boys in the photos because if boys look at a photo and see it’s all girls they won’t want to come. (me – but we have no boys in the group today) You can photoshop some boys into the photo”
Carers Express 