Education

Why do we conduct these activities?

Mental illness is a public health problem that cannot be ignored on a global scale, imposing a significant disease and economic burden on countries across the globe. In China, there are certain limitations in the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of depression, and there are certain taboos in the public's cognition of mental illness, and many patients are reluctant to seek medical treatment voluntarily. The activities introduced on this page, education, hope to further improve the public awareness of depression, increase the intervention of key groups, and call on the whole society to provide support and care for patients with depression. We need to improve public awareness of the disease from the whole society and eliminate the taboo and stigma of the disease, so as to achieve timely treatment and reduce the burden of depression on society and families. We also provide some interesting biology lessons to groups that have little access to biology knowledge, hoping to help the seeds of biological dreams germinate and blossom.

Education for children in kindergarten

Motivation

Nowadays, the basic courses of Chinese kindergartens are mainly about basic mathematics, language training and creativity cultivation, and few kindergartens cultivate children's interest in biology. We hope to give the kindergarten children a chance to contact biology and let them know this subject from an early age. We want to stimulate children's curiosity and desire to explore. Biology is a field of science full of wonder and mystery. By learning biology, they can discover many interesting things, explore unknown areas, and cultivate their interest and love for science

In China's education system, from primary school to junior high school, biology is not a major subject, and the focus of school learning is on Chinese, mathematics and English. Therefore, most parents do not think it is important to cultivate an interest in biology at an early age.

General tasks

Through small games, children are introduced to the fun of biology: Introduction to biology, composition of the human body, introduction to the cell (the basic unit of organism).

Tell the parents how learning biology can help their children and the international importance of biology. Introduces iGEM, an international comprehensive biology competition, and shares own improvement obtained during the competition. Share some measures to avoid depression in children's future development.

Feedback we got

The children showed great interest in the biology game we designed, because it was new to them, and the field of biology was rarely exposed to them in school. After the activity, many children also asked us about other biological knowledge, such as the life of insects, how plants grow, how to see cells and so on. It can be seen that our activity opened the door of the children's biological field, laying a foundation for their future development and learning.

After our lecture towards teachers and some parents, they understand that biology could help develop scientific thinking(including observation, reasoning, experimentation and problem solving skills); learn about human health through understanding the structure and function of the human body and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle; and develop innovative skills, since Bioscience is a field of constant development and innovation, and by learning biological thinking, children can develop innovative and problem-solving skills. Most of them respond that they will develop biological capabilities as children grow, and will continue to focus on symptoms and prevention of depression. Many parents consulted the iGEM competition after the lecture and expressed particular interest in the experimental part of the competition and hoped that their children would have the opportunity to experience it in the future.

Education for pupils in rural primary school

Motivation

The unadjusted prevalence of depression was significantly higher among rural than urban populations, and poor education of depression in the countryside make the situation worse.

General task

Play biological games, introduce the theory depression, share relevant solution, introduction of our project and iGEM.

Feedback we got

Due to the backward education system in rural areas, many students give us feedback that they have never experienced such a fun and interesting class, and there are very few biology classes in the school, only one or two classes a week, many students like biology but always fail to learn relevant knowledge. After the activity, the teachers of the school and the local village government expressed their gratitude to us for providing such a valuable opportunity for the children in the village to be exposed to biology. A student suffering from depression in the school came to us and said that his disease was not understood by the students around him before, and he was very grateful for the popularization of depression this time. We also promise to keep long-term contact with the village. If any students have questions about biology, depression, or iGEM, please feel free to email us. We do our best to hope that any biological dream will not be wiped out because of the lack of educational resources.

Education for teenagers in high school

Motivation

Young people face greater study and work pressure and are the most prone to depression, and school violence is also a key factor leading to depression. We firmly believe in letting young people know the importance of having a healthy mind and caring for colleagues and classmates around them.At the same time, teenagers need to know that campus violence, family environment and other factors can lead to depression, and we call on every teenager to clearly stay away from campus bullying, no matter the victim or the perpetrator, and adjust family conflicts.

General tasks

Teach young people how to regulate their own psychological state, how to be a good listener and a good talker, how to care for others and say no to violence. Introduce the manifestations and causes of depression, and guide them on how to solve this problem correctly.

Feedback we got (teen voices on depression)

The educational activities we held were carried out across all grades of the school. Most students said that when they feel down, it is mostly because of family conflicts and their study pressure. Our lectures include how to adjust our own psychological state and how to communicate effectively with our parents. These methods can share a lot of emotional pressure for them and bring a lot of emotional value. Some students praised us: choosing the age group with the most frequent occurrence of campus bullying to conduct psychological safety lectures, eliminating the seeds of campus bullying is a very effective method, and many schools are exam-oriented education, few teachers and students pay attention to these psychological safety risks, our lectures have brought the modules they usually do not pay attention to to the public. Some students reported: Sometimes when my friends come to me because of sadness, they do not do a responsible listener, but feel indifferent, after listening to the lecture, they can be a good listener and listener in the future, when others cry to them, they do their best to send others a good mood, but also hope to get comfort from others when they are sad.Finally, some students with depression gave us feedback: they suffer from depression and are afraid of being discriminated against. They were glad that we came to the school to popularize depression-related knowledge for students, such as the causes of depression, the manifestations of depression.

Education for adults (parents)

Motivation

Behind each depression, the family is the key factor leading to and curing, if the parents do not pay attention to the child's mental health, or the degree of awakening is not high, it will give the child's mental health buried a hidden danger. The following family conditions are most likely to cause depression in children: an unloved and unattended childhood; a childhood of high demands and high standards; a childhood kidnapped by morality and perfectionism; a childhood of being spoiled or beaten down, a childhood of having a small and materialistic family.

General tasks

To introduce the causes of depression for parents, and clarify that depression is not weak, low psychological quality, or the performance of twee. In addition，advocate for parents to pay more attention to their children's mental health, and teach parents how to communicate effectively with their children.

Feedback we have received (parents’ voices on depression)

Our educational activities for parents have also aroused the resonance and reflection of most parents. Most parents feedback: our education activities are very meaningful, many of which are reflected in their own, such as: they are indeed busy with work often ignore the children's feelings, every day after school, they rarely take the initiative to find their children about the day's situation. After listening to the lecture, they think that our educational activities are an alarm bell, reminding parents to take the initiative to understand the psychology of children and take the initiative to communicate with their children. Some parents said: They think that depression is very far away from their side, their children are absolutely impossible to have depression, but after the end of this lecture, go home and ask the children around the classmates have depression, their answer is yes, which surprised these parents, and they ensure that they should pay more attention to the child's mental health, to eliminate all factors that may lead to depression. Finally, individual parents responded to us: After the lecture, they think that they should put themselves in the shoes of their children and learn to communicate effectively with their children is very important, because parents and children are two generations, there is a generation gap is a common phenomenon, they dare not imagine how bad it is to face high-intensity learning and tasks every day, and to face their parents' incomprehension when they return home.