With approximately half of all mental disorders commencing before the age of 14¹, school settings play a crucial role in ensuring mental health and well-being are constant focus points during a student’s formative years. Research² over the past 20 years has suggested that comprehensive initiatives embracing a ‘whole of school’ approach (involving school leaders, teachers, staff, and parents) have been able to foster a climate where better transitions from childhood to adulthood occur.³ Despite this, overall student mental health appears to be on the decline, with an estimated one in every five adolescents suffering from a major mental health disorder⁴. Of additional concern is that, sadly, most instances go undetected and untreated.⁵

Early research outputs since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic estimate incidences of adolescent anxiety, depression, and stress have risen significantly. Students around the world struggle to deal with the loneliness, social isolation, and negativity brought on by continued uncertainty.^{6 7} At JUGAR|LIFE, we want to do our part to remedy that. JAG, as an acronym, stands for joy, affection, and gratitude. These elements exist as core components of student social and emotional wellbeing. As the precursors to happiness and satisfaction, they are necessary if we want students to flourish. We challenged ourselves to design an initiative that prioritised these components irrespective of school setting. An initiative that was comprehensive in nature, flexible in delivery, and aligned with specific learning objectives drawn from global social and emotional wellness curricula. We made it our mission to make it available free of charge to all.

The JAG Bag is the result!