On Thursday, March 13th, Fayette County Public Schools organized an activity to celebrate Lexington’s 250th anniversary. To show and raise awareness for students’ mental health, all Fayette County Schools, including Frederick Douglass, organized a showing of the movie Inside out 2 for all sophomore students.
Poor mental health is undeniably one of the leading factors in raised amounts of anxiety and depression among high school students, and showcasing a movie that portrays those emotions makes students feel like they are not alone.
Sophomore, Raquel Davis, said that watching the children’s movie with her fellow classmates made her feel seen and heard, and surprisingly, many other students feel the same way.
Inside Out 2 shows how Riley, the little girl from the first movie, overcomes many new challenges as she enters her high school years. Her entire world turns “inside out” as she fights and faces her friends, parents, and self.
Riley is a character that relates to many young students struggling in High School, and the movie is a great way of showing reality through a light-hearted film. Although Inside Out 2 was darker than the first Inside Out, it still had many important themes and lessons that are hard to ignore.
Ella Dulaney, a sophomore at Frederick Douglass High School, states,” I related to the way Riley struggled to express her emotions and found it hard to make the right decisions at times.”
Ella believes the movie helped her see a different perspective of high school that she hadn’t realized was there before.
Overall, mental health is far from a joking matter and doing something small, like showcasing a film called Inside Out 2, is one step closer to a happier world with joy-filled kids and students.