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Diary entries

Three adolescents read from their diaries about some bad things they experienced.
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SPEAKER 1: 5th of April, dear diary, we were talking about gay marriage in school, and again, I didn’t dare to say that I have two mothers. It’s so stupid, because I’m not embarrassed at all and I think gay people are very normal, but I was so scared. I was worried that people might bully me or ask weird questions, like, when my neighbour asked me who does the chores in our house. It’s not that weird, though. I just have two mothers who love each other very much. Sometimes I do wish one of the mothers would have dated a man. It would have made things a lot easier.
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SPEAKER 2: 17th, February, today I had such an awful day. Everybody was picking on me. Those stupid boys from my class were following me when I was cycling to school this morning. I hate them so much. They were all kicking against my bike. I almost fell off. Even outside school, they don’t leave me alone anymore. At school they call me with bad names. I try not to listen to it, but it’s so hard. I don’t dare talk about it with mum and dad, because I’m afraid they’ll think I’m a fool too. Every day I hope they quit, but they never do.
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SPEAKER 3: 3rd of December, mum and dad were just having a big fight. I just went to my room, but that doesn’t help at all. They scream so loud at each other, I hear it anyway. I didn’t want them to get divorced, but now I’m happy the fights will be over. I’m constantly afraid they’ll fight again. I hope that feeling will soon pass. It’s so difficult, because, of course, I preferred my parents being together. But this isn’t working at all. I prefer to be somewhere else, so I don’t hear them yelling all the time.

When having experienced something negative, writing about it can help you process it. In this video three adolescents read from their diaries about some bad things they experienced.

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Young People and Mental Health

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FutureLearn - Learning For Life

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