Youth Wellness

A Mediaplanet Guide to Children’s Mental Health and Well-Being

Youth Wellness

Meena Harris

Discover the new app helping parents address challenging behavior

The bestselling children’s book author advocates for the importance of representation in literature

SEPTEMBER 2021 | MODERNWELLNESSGUIDE.COM

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by MEG MEDINA, winner of the Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children

Tips for Building a More Diverse Home Library All children need to see themselves reflected in the stories they read, but books should also introduce our kids to others who are different from them.

As parents and caregivers, we have the power to build more diverse home libraries and ensure the books we’re reading to our kids introduce them to people of different races, religions, sexual orientations, genders, and cultures.

1. A ctively seek out stories with accurate and respectful representation of identities beyond your own.

It takes intention on your part to include stories that celebrate identities beyond your child’s own. The most recent survey of representation in children’s literature shows that white main characters make up more than 40 percent of protagonists, while animal protagonists comprise another 29 percent. Only 5 percent of books published last year featured a Latinx main character, and a mere 3 percent were about characters with a disability.

2. Seek out books that introduce your reader to experiences outside of their own.

This concept includes, but extends well beyond, racial, ethnic, or sexual identities.

For example, read about city living if you live in a rural area, apartment living if you’re in a single-family home, or the daily lives of children in another part of the world.

3. Avoid stories with tokenism or stereotypical representation of a group.

Racial and ethnic identities vary widely, and no group of people should be represented as stereotypes. Critically examine representation in the texts you select to ensure diversity is celebrated across the spectrum.

It is critical that we provide our children with books that reflect the diversity of our world and expand their accurate understanding of the world around them.

Anna King, President, National PTA

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Now Is the Time to Invest in Broadband and Close the Digital Divide COVID-19 has impacted nearly every country around the world, and no one is certain how long this pandemic will last. However, it has shone a spotlight on distance learning, broadband access, and under-connected low-income communities.

Most of those who are new to distance learning probably think the term refers only to video conferencing. In fact, the term distance learning encompasses the full array of current and emerging technologies that organizations are using to deliver educational experiences and products. According to Holden, Westfall, and Gamor (2010), “Distance learning includes e-learning, texting, social networking, virtual worlds, gamebased learning, webinars, and a lot more. Distance learning brings education and training to where students or trainees are, connecting their world to worldwide learning communities.”

We live in a globally connected world that can provide unprecedented opportunities. One of the biggest and most common misconceptions prior to the pandemic was that the term “distance learning” applied only to K-12 learners, and only to K-12 learners in rural areas specifically. In reality, distance learning today is not just for kids.

Access for all Distance learning is about using available technologies and technology infrastructures to make more effective learning opportunities accessible to all learners — whatever their age, location, or reason for learning — from anywhere, at any time, and at any pace, in accordance with the individual needs of each student.

It most closely resembles the manner in which work will occur and economies will expand in this century — remotely and in collaboration with multiple, diverse stakeholders.

It is critical to America’s competitiveness in today’s fast-paced global economic environment, which requires constant innovation, upskilling, and reskilling for lifelong learning. Distance learning is the only efficient, scalable, and sustainable way to build and protect the value of our current and future workforce.

Getting connected Recently, the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) joined more than 40 leading civil rights organizations, consumer groups, and private sector leaders to form a coalition to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live or how much money they make, can connect to high-speed

internet. The coalition, Broadband Equity for All, aims to work collaboratively with policymakers to ensure everyone is able to enjoy the opportunities that come with internet connectivity.

This coalition is advocating for Congress to comprehensively address the affordability challenge facing low-income communities with a sustainable long-term direct-to-consumer broadband benefit. This benefit will help people get connected to high-speed internet and achieve the educational and economic prosperity that comes with the ability to get online. To make sure this benefit works and has staying power, Congress needs to ensure the benefit has consistent and sufficient funding.

USDLA believes that the time is now to address the connectivity gaps highlighted during this global pandemic. We must ensure under-connected, lower-income communities have sustainable and affordable broadband access to connect and harvest not only the knowledge of the United States, but the entire world for the betterment of mankind. n Reggie Smith III, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)

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Publishers Nina Montross and Victoria Borkowski Business Developer Joelle Hernandez Managing Director Luciana Olson Lead Designer Tiffany Pryor Designer Tiffany Jackson Lead Editor Mina Fanous Copy Editor Taylor Rice Director of Content and Production Jordan Hernandez Cover Photo Maria del Rio All photos are credited to Getty Images unless otherwise specified. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve USA Today.

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4 Reasons Social and Emotional Learning is Essential for Access & Equity Most people agree that all children should receive an education that helps them achieve their goals and contribute to their communities. To do that, they need trusting relationships, rich instructional experiences, and opportunities that fully support their learning and development.

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hat’s why teachers, principals, parents, and students agree: social and emotional learning (SEL) is essential.

Put simply, SEL is the lifelong process of learning how to understand ourselves, connect with others, set goals, and make caring and constructive choices. In schools, SEL can take different forms. It often involves building positive relationships among students and adults, dedicated time to learn social and emotional skills like perspective-taking, and opportunities to practice reflection and collaboration during academic subjects.

So, why is SEL important for

access and equity?

1. Every student should have an education that sets them up for success SEL creates greater access to academic, career, and life goals. Decades of research show that SEL leads to significant benefits: academic gains, improved behavior, and less emotional distress.

These benefits continue long-term and can contribute to higher graduation rates, lower poverty rates, and more economic mobility.

2. Every student should get to celebrate their strengths SEL builds on students’ skills and affirms their cultures, interests, and experiences.

SEL builds on students’ skills and affirms their cultures, interests, and experiences.

When students feel respected and engaged, they learn best.

SEL promotes skills that help students better understand their strengths, take action on issues they care about, and appreciate diverse perspectives.

3. Every student needs caring adults SEL helps adults strengthen practices that promote equity and inclusion. Teachers know that deeper learning happens through meaningful connections with students. SEL provides the tools to better understand students’ perspectives and backgrounds, create inclusive learning spaces, and collaborate on solutions for

equity and access.

4. Every student should have a support network SEL helps schools, families, and communities work together. Students’ learning goes beyond the classroom.

Parents are children’s first teachers, and community partners often play a significant role. SEL helps deepen school-family-community partnerships to support young people’s academic, social, and emotional development.

With SEL, we’re able to achieve the best outcomes for all students. n Justina Schlund, Senior Director of Content and Field Learning, CASEL

Building a Brighter Future with 25 Years of Expertise in Social and Emotional Learning, Discipline & School Culture

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especially women of color.

There weren’t a lot of children’s books that centered on Black characters, let alone Black girls, when I was growing up. Whenever they could, my family made a point of finding them and emphasizing powerful images and messages that centered on communities of color and multiculturalism.

Specific books that really stuck with me include “Tar Beach,” “Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters,” “Whistle for Willie,” and “Shake It to the One That You Love the Best.”

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Meena Harris on the Importance of Representation in Children’s Literature

How can parents start the conversation with their children early about diversity, gender roles, and ambition?

The lawyer, children’s book author, and founder of the Phenomenal Women Action Campaign discusses how she’s redefining the word “ambitious” for female empowerment and why it’s never too early to teach children about representation.

Upon the publication of your second book, “Ambitious Girl,” you partnered with We Need Diverse Books to donate copies to students and educators. What is the importance of representation in children’s books?

I got so fed up with having to switch up pronouns or reach for a brown marker to add diversity to the books I was reading with my kids. But it turns out the

problem is a lot worse than I ever would’ve expected; in 2018, there were as many kids’ books published that had animals as main characters as there were books with Black, Asian, Latinx, and Native human characters combined.

So much of what kids learn comes from books. That’s why this struck me as both a massive problem and an opportunity — an opportunity to create characters that my own kids,

and so many others like them, could relate to.

During time off from school, children lose between 25-30 percent of their school year learning, also known as “the summer slide.” As a mom of two, how do you encourage reading during down times?

My partner and I make it a point to read to our girls as often as possible, including in the

middle of the workday. I love it when one of my daughters will pull a book off the shelf and ask me to read to her, and I jump at the chance to take a few minutes away from whatever I happen to be doing to read.

What was your favorite book as a child?

That’s a trickier question than you might expect — for me, and for a lot of other women,

The fact is that this stuff creeps into your children’s awareness a lot earlier than we’d like to think. Kids are smart and perceptive, and they’re dealing with all kinds of complex thoughts and feelings all the time. So, I think one of the best things you can do is just be honest with them. I firmly believe that being direct with your kids, while validating their insights and feelings, could not be more important.

With respect to “ambition” in particular, I want my daughters — and every other girl in the world — to understand that that word describes something powerful and good. But I also want boys and men to understand how “ambitious” is a word that can positively apply to all of us, and its connotation doesn’t change with gender. If we’re ever going to see change, we need boys and men onboard too. That’s what “Ambitious Girl” is all about: reframing and redefining this word that is too often used against us, when it should be lifting us up. n

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The App Helping Parents Improve Child Behavior A new collaborative app is helping parents and caregivers use researchbased methods to effectively and positively respond to challenging behavior in children ages 3-12.

The Amira app helps foster kids’ skill-building and creates more meaningful and positive interactions for the whole family.

“Parenting is hard,” says Lori Leitgeb, Amira’s founder and CEO. “It’s work.

Behavior change takes work.”

Early in her career, Leitgeb worked with a research team on intervention strategies for children with ADHD. She implemented those strategies years later when she became a parent.

The parents’ role While reward charts are often used to motivate kids to behave well, Leitgeb noticed something was missing — the interaction between parents and children. The solution was Amira.

The easy-to-use, subscription-based app helps parents address their child’s behavior consistently, clearly, and positively. Features include in-app coaching and adjustable goal charts for each child.

What’s more, one subscription can be used by all members of the family, including guardians, caregivers, and teachers.

Amira sends customizable reminders to parents to help them stay focused. Kids earn personalized privileges for good behavior. For example, a reward could be to choose music in the car, or to buy lunch at school.

The app helps users manage their parenting triggers too, such as when children use disrespectful words or bicker with siblings. “We give parents our scripts to say when there’s some sort of a violation of an expectation,” says Leitgeb, noting the scripts help parents feel more in control and consistent when interacting.

Kristen Castillo

The app is available for both Android and iPhone. Download Amira and try it free: amiraparenting.com

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Ignorance Is Not Bliss: Addressing Kids’ Mental Wellness

No one seems to know that the second leading cause of death for children aged 10-24 in the United States is suicide, because nobody wants to know.

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econd to accidents, this is how our children and grandchildren are dying. Not dissimilar to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, people do not want to talk about mental health in children — especially suicide — but there are fatal consequences to ignoring the problem. It doesn’t have to be this way.

As founder and CEO of a kids’ mental health nonprofit, I can personally tell you that children’s mental health issues affect everyone, whether they admit it or not. It is in my daily conversations, and we receive requests for help from all socio-economic backgrounds, whether they have access to the best of the best care or have no access at all. And while mental health is “on trend” right now

and becoming more acceptable to talk about, it’s still not an open conversation in the way that physical health is.

The parents’ role At YourMomCares, we are using the power of mothers to rally together and support groundbreaking technology like RxWell to treat depression and anxiety, aid in suicide prevention, eliminate stigma, and change the dialogue from mental illness to mental wellness. We should no longer distinguish mental health from physical health; they are one and the same.

The reason we created our back-to-school mental wellness checklist is because back-toschool season is a documented time of high anxiety for kids.

Especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, kids’ lives have become so inconsistent, it is no longer “buy your pens and pencils, put them in your backpack, and off you go.” One day you’re wearing a mask, and the next day you aren’t. One day you’re in remote learning, and the next day you’re in-person. This is uncharted territory for everyone, so parents need advice from experts on how to deal with this constant change and the everyday challenges that school present to children.

Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to kids that are suffering.

This crisis in our children is not going to go away by pretending it isn’t there. We need to take action. n Sharon Feldstein, CEO & Founder, YourMomCares.org

How Parents and Caregivers Can Support Adolescent Mental Health Beyond the Pandemic When the CDC recently announced that, with some exceptions, fully vaccinated people in the United States no longer need to socially distance or wear masks indoors, the collective exhale was almost palpable.

We are all looking forward to a time of re-emergence — when vaccination rates allow for the full re-opening of all schools, businesses, restaurants, and other spaces where we gather to learn, work, or play. As teens and young adults prepare to go back to school, parents and caregivers can implement these tips to support students during this uncertain time.

Encourage social connectedness It’s more difficult to notice when someone else is experiencing extreme anxiety or distress if they’re isolated. Check in with your teen and encourage them to stay connected

to others. Set regular times to talk or have meals together, whether virtually or in-person. If you have an instinct or gut feeling that they may be struggling, ask them if they are ok, and let them know that you are there to help them. Learn more about how to have these kinds of conversations at www.seizetheawkward.org and www.sounditouttogether.org.

Support help-seeking behavior In pre-pandemic times of emotional distress, many students report that they would reach out to school professionals such as counselors, professors, and academic advisors, as well as friends and classmates. Assure young people that they can come to you for support if they are feeling overwhelmed. Try to listen carefully at three levels: the content of what they are saying, the emotions they are feeling, and their behaviors in response to those thoughts and feelings.

Provide access to mental health services We know that transitions can be difficult, so a virtual support system such as Crisis Text Line or TalkSpace can be helpful. Parents should be aware of local and school resources if accessible and affordable. Encourage teens and young adults to review their school’s resource communications and ask for help from their teachers and school professionals; www.jedfoundation.org also provides information about how to find mental healthcare.

Create opportunities for youth to process their experience Parents and caring adults can assist younger people in understanding and sorting through their experience by creating dedicated times, spaces, and techniques for processing. Self-reflective activities encourage review and integration of their experience. These

techniques can be used to help teens understand and integrate silver linings as well as identify hopes for the future — some of which may have changed as a result of the pandemic experience.

Keep the things that work Teletherapy, remote learning, and new strategies for establishing and maintaining work-home balance are important to continue, even as the pandemic fades.

Taking time to assess what worked for your family is a worthwhile endeavor.

The uncertainty of knowing when we can resume the things we love has understandably taken a toll on the mental health of high school and college students amidst this global pandemic. The good news is that parents, caregivers, friends, and peers can implement these recommendations to provide young adults with the support they need to thrive and succeed. n John MacPhee, Executive Director and CEO, The Jed Foundation

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