Paying attention to the mental health of minors in rural areas not only has a profound impact on individual and social development but also responds to the call to boost education for rural revitalization.
Minors in rural areas of Chongqing. (Photo provided to iChongqing)
For rural children, very few can be well accompanied, guided, and cared for by adults when they grow up. The lack of early education, psychological education, in particular, is one of the key factors to children’s common emotional and behavioral problems, especially in areas with relatively underdeveloped educational conditions.
According to the Survey Report on Mental Health of Children in Rural Areas, the detection rates of depression and anxiety among children living in rural areas reached 25.2% and 25.7%, respectively.
However, the left-behind children are more vulnerable to mental health risks, with detection rates of depression and excessive anxiety up to 28.5% and 27.7%, higher than those of non-left-behind ones.
Therefore, the protection of healthy growth, rights, and interests for left-behind children in rural areas has become a serious social problem that is hard to ignore.
In Yuzhong District, Chongqing, Red Cherry Volunteer Association launches the “Mental Health project for Rural Children,” relying on the support from Chongqing Charity Federation and using school infrastructure as carriers to create “Sweet House,” a center of psychological protection for rural minors.
As an informational and intelligent platform with integration of functions such as science popularization, monitoring and research, screening and early warning, crisis intervention, “Sweet House” takes popular cartoon images as its main bodies and provides interactive forms, including emotional catharsis, music-assisted relaxation, sandbox games, and psychological tests.
This is to establish a professional psychological course system of relevant knowledge and skills for teachers, volunteers, and basic-level organizations and to further build a loving park for children’s healthy growth.
The project serves as an important part of the “Rural Revitalization·Chongqing Session” hosted by Chongqing Charity Federation under the guidance of Chongqing Civil Affairs Bureau and Chongqing Rural Revitalization Bureau, with special support from Tencent Charity and Tencent Southwest Headquarters.
The activity will be held from April 27 to April 29, 2022, focusing on assistance in industrial development, elderly care, care for children, education, talents cultivation, and aid for the needy and the poor.