The USC Speak Your Mind Ice Bucket Challenge originally started as the ALS Speak Your Mind ice bucket challenge in 2014. This challenge started to bring awareness to people with ALS, a neurological disease that affects the brain’s nerve cells. It was brought back in 2025 by students attending the University of South Carolina (USC) to start raising awareness around mental health, especially in young adults and students.
This challenge begins with someone making a video, usually saying their name and the name of the challenge, who they nominate to do the ice bucket challenge next, and then finishing the video by saying, “You have 24 hours.” Once they finish nominating the next few people, they will either dump a bucket of ice water on their head or have someone else do it for them. This cycle continues, and every time someone completes the challenge, the people they nominate will do it, too.
Many people all over the world have participated in this challenge, and it has become a popular challenge to do. Many Barlow students have nominated their teachers to do this challenge, so a handful of teachers here at Barlow have made videos. A few of these teachers include Mrs. Ichikawa, Mr. Bhear, Mr. Jones, and Mrs. Arnold. Most of these videos were posted to the WeAreBarlow Instagram page, so everyone going to Barlow was sure to see them. By engaging the teachers and students, it became a much more fun challenge and got more people involved in raising awareness for mental health.
This challenge was brought back in April because it is mental health awareness month. April is specifically for recognizing stress and the struggles of coping with stress. This month was the perfect time to bring back the Ice Bucket Challenge because it gave people ways to support others going through mental health struggles in a fun and healthy way. Anyone who completed this challenge recognized mental health and the struggles anyone with mental health issues goes through. This challenge not only made people realize that mental health should be talked about more, but also brought communities and people together in a fun way.
Another way you can support stress and mental health Awareness is by donating to mental health organizations that raise money to pay for research, programs, support groups, or advocacy. Donating to organizations like this will show your support and provide help for people who are struggling with their mental health. A few examples of some organizations you can donate to are the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), The Trevor Project, The Jed Foundation, Child Mind Institute, and Mental Health America. These are just some of the many foundations you can donate to that support everyone going through mental health struggles. If you are going through mental health struggles yourself, don’t be afraid to tell someone. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to someone face-to-face, call 988 or a mental health hotline.
