Mental health is "just as important as algebra", says an Irish charity teaching it in schools.
With a little help from Bressie, A Lust For Life aims to build resilience, increase young people's mental wellbeing, and enhance the emotional literacy of children.
Head of Programmes Leda Connaughton told Dublin Live that managing a kid's mind is a fundamental life skill, but "algebra and all these other subjects are prioritised".
"We felt that we needed to do something about it," she said.
“The last few years we’ve been getting requests from parents and teachers looking for help.
"We wanted to create a sustainable programme that all schools in Ireland could use at the same time so schools in inner city Dublin to rural Donegal could all be accessing the content together.
“We wanted the topics and themes to cover issues that children wanted to talk about and were facing, things like transitioning into secondary school, managing friendships especially with kids having phones and social media apps these days.
“We wanted to create a programme that is fun and engaging, so we created a Netflix style programme."
Bressie stars in their mindfulness videos that they show in schools, and is also involved in writing the scripts.
They have reached over 500 schools and have over 21,500 pupils since they launched last September.
Leda continued: “In terms of schools, the programme is free of charge - we wanted to make sure that schools didn’t have to pay for something we feel that should be there already.
“Early education is key to enhancing positive mental health outcomes and early intervention is key. The sooner kids are taught about their well being, the better.
“They learn about emotions, feelings and how I can manage them. Learning that in primary school means that they can carry those skills forward into their teen years and adult life. It really gives them something when life gets tricky."
Parents and teaching staff can find out more here.
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