"I Know You're Not Happy, but I Want to Tell You..." Self-Help Programme & Exhibition

What are students struggling with? How can we support those navigating the challenges of growing up?

A 15-year-old student wrote that their struggle was "being born (the inability to choose not to be born)," and a 12-year-old described feeling, "like I don't matter at all." Their confessions are enough to make a grown-up get teary-eyed.

These are part of the responses collected from students during our exhibition, "I Want to Tell You, Actually I'm Not Happy" Student Emotional Support Programme launched in December 2023. We found several sources of student distress, including adult expectations, difficult peer relationships, pressure from public exams, the loneliness of being misunderstood, and low self-esteem. Over a hundred students participated in this anonymous exhibition to share their struggles, and we later expanded the initiative to two community spaces, collecting confessions from an additional 60 students.

Writing down their worries on the cards is the first step in acknowledging difficult feelings. We continued to welcome everyone to express their distress in "I Know You're Not Happy, But I Want to Tell You..." Self-Help Programme, the second exhibition of the series. We invited mental health professionals and the public to respond to and encourage students, empowering them to address their emotional challenges.

In the exhibition, five mirrors displayed common concerns of students. We invited visitors to take photos with the mirrors, allowing their reflections to merge with those of the students, fostering a deeper understanding of their experiences.

Exhibition Period ｜20 Apr to 31 Aug 2024

Programme Impact 

• Welcomed over 10,000 visitors.
• Collected nearly 900 responses.