Catherine, Princess of Wales wants children to learn mental health skills in all aspects of life.
Catherine, Princess of Wales wants children to learn mental health skills in all aspects of life
The 41-year-old royal, who has children Prince George, nine, Princess Charlotte, eight, Prince Louis, five, with her husband Prince William, 40, added after she visited the north London headquarters of Anna Freud – a charity that helps young people improve their mental wellbeing – she felt “inspired and excited” by the experience.
She said: “I’ve learnt a lot today. I’ve got all these fireworks going off in my head.”
The princess spent time at St Richard’s College with a group of secondary school children aged from seven to nine who have been taking part in interactive activities that explore how to deal with their own anxious feelings.
They helped design Anna Freud’s anxiety toolkit, which was launched on Thursday (18.05.23) and will be used at schools across the UK.
The princess said when she was told one girl was having trials at a football club: “So much in sport is mental as well as the physical skills and abilities. To have these sorts of skills in your toolbox will really help, not just in school but home life and school and other things as well.”
The royal also asked the children: “Do you think lots of young people have got the skills that you have got? How many adults do you know who have these skills?”
Catherine, who is patron of Anna Freud, added about her work on mental health: “The more you learn, the more you read, the more interesting a perspective you get… it’s great to keep up to date
“I’ve learnt a huge amount. And then you go down into fields of philosophy, as well as psychology and neuroscience.”
She also said emotions should not be “over medicalised”, adding: “In the caveman ages our worlds were quite small so we were able to deal with that fight or flight response.”
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