“Times have been hard recently.” This statement plays on repeat these days. Often news sources focus on headlines that are horrendous and disastrous more than heartwarming stories. Being surrounded by negative perspectives can trap you in a cycle of thinking the worst. How does the news you and your family consume affect your day-to-day mental health? How can we refocus our attention on the positive aspects of life, even in the most challenging times? 

1. Do research! Where do you get your news? Where do your parents, friends, siblings, grandparents, and teachers get their news? Check out the different mediums that news is relayed through(print, websites, social media, mouth-to-mouth, etc). Make a list including everyone’s news sources. Make a mental note of any similarities and differences between how they present information. Find two positive stories to use in your final artwork.
2. Think positive! Come up with two positive stories that have happened to you or your family since the year started(These can be as small as “we ate a yummy dinner,” “I got a good grade in my class,” or “we’re all alive today,” etc.). How does focusing on the positive for a change feel? Was it hard?
3. Design! Using your favorite art medium, create any type of news page using all four positive stories as the headlines. Use some of the news outlet research you did to give you inspiration for layout, content, etc. Make sure you include images too!
4. Submit your news page using the submission form at the top of this page, and make sure to share it with as many people as possible to spread positivity!