Today is Brilliant Bristol day. Hundreds of Bristol school children are attempting to set a ‘kindness’ world record by performing random acts of kindness within their communities.
The idea behind this event has been to get children to explore concepts of happiness and to examine the neuroscience behind them. It was the children’s own idea to set a world kindness record as they had looked at how the quickest way to be happy is often to do a good deed for someone else.
It’s a great feeling to be on the end of some kindness, maybe even better when you can see the look on someones face who’ve just received that kindness from you.
This event sounds wonderful, especially for those children that could have problems in their own lives. Putting smiles on the faces of children that could be going through difficulties in those very schools.
School can be difficult
We all know how tough life can be for school children. Pressure to do well from teachers and parents. Exams. Difficulties among peer groups, including the break down of important relationships. Bullying.
Depression and anxiety issues affect all ages, from reception class through to sixth form. Most adults that I see can trace their own problems back to their childhood and even events that happened at school.
Happiness and change
What better way to combat some of these problems than to study happiness in School? Positive interaction with those around us is a key part of producing neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, and these help us to maintain a healthy mental outlook. When we produce a constant flow of these wonderful brain chemicals we are kind, happy, brave, coping little souls!
Carrying out acts of kindness in the communities around their schools is a wonderful way of producing those happy brain chemicals. Here everybody benefits; those receiving the kindness of course, but those kids that ordinarily encounter anxiety attending school will get a huge boost.
Learning about the brain, thinking about the positives in our lives and engaging in positive activities and interactions are all key to the therapy I undertake with people. This is true for children or adults.
Help for children and parents
If you have a child that isn’t coping with life or is suffering from any of the issues I refer to throughout this website, please get in touch. I hold extended CRB check status to enable me to work with children and teenagers. They really do pick up the methods I work with so quickly and benefits can often be seen quickly. I offer a free initial consultation for parents of children under 16.