The Choose Kindness Project — an alliance of the nation’s leading nonprofit organizations that champion bullying prevention, intentional inclusion and youth mental wellness — unveiled first-of-its-kind resources to bring parents, educators and coaches together to help support youth facing bullying. Today, parents and other caring adults are struggling to support kids who face bullying and feelings of isolation amid a youth mental health crisis. The Parent Playbooks detail proactive steps caring adults can take with their kids to address bullying, while helping to build a culture of kindness, empathy and upstanding. The companion Educator and Coach Toolkit, contains educator-family communication tools, as well as a thoughtfully-curated selection of actionable resources.
According to The Choose Kindness Project survey conducted by Ipsos, of the teens surveyed who say they have been bullied, 65% say bullying has had an impact on their mental health and confidence, while nearly one in three parents do not feel they have the resources to deal with bullying issues. At the same time, 82% of parents turn to the school as the first place to seek resources and help if their child is bullied or accused of bullying. These new resources, which offer tips and conversation guides, are aimed at helping caring adults work together in addressing these difficult issues.
Developed by The Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA and leading subject-matter experts, the Parent Playbooks include three primary topic areas, titled “What to Do When Your Child is Bullied,” “What to Do if Your Child is Bullying Other Kids,” and “How to Build a Culture of Kindness, Empathy and Upstanding with Kids Affected by Bullying.”
“From our research, there’s nothing else on the market that is as intersectional and comprehensive as these three playbooks,” says Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, founder of The Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA, who worked in partnership with The Choose Kindness Project. “While there are countless one-off parenting resources from credible sources, The Choose Kindness Project tasked the nation’s leading experts on all things bullying, mental health and child wellness to help create succinct and clear recommendations for parents to guide them through difficult situations and conversations about bullying.”
Launching in tandem is the Educator and Coach Toolkit, web-based resources that help educators and coaches engage families in a way that communicates care, affirms common ground and paves a clear path forward. The toolkit was designed with the support of the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers program, the Walton Family Foundation and informed by some of the nation’s leading teachers, counselors and school leaders. It provides actionable tools that help educators and youth coaches in the areas of understanding bullying, responding to bullying, mental wellness and cyberbullying.
“It’s our mission to provide educators with access to resources they need in order to better prepare their students for success,” said Britton Banowsky, Executive Director of the CFP Foundation. “Considering the many challenges educators already face, we are grateful that the Walton Family Foundation and the Choose Kindness Project have made it possible to provide a thoughtfully curated and easy-to-use toolkit so that educators and families can support students.”
More than one third of teens reported they have been bullied in the past year, according to The Choose Kindness Project Survey, with significantly higher rates for some groups. The survey also found that bullying happens in different places, but respondents most frequently report incidents at school. Given these alarming statistics, the Educator and Coach promotional kit is being distributed to 1,000 schools across the country in advance of the new school year as well as being available online.