Early resilience training for remote and regional primary school kids
After teaching mental fitness to a roll call of Australia’s sporting elite, The Resilience Project is now rolling out to regional and remote schools to help build coping strategies in our country kids
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Kids are taught physical fitness from a young age and a groundbreaking initiative is teaching regional and remote children about early mental fitness too.
The Resilience Project (TRP) is an evidence-based positive mental health program that teaches students the three tenets of GEM – gratitude, empathy and mindfulness – to help them cope when life becomes challenging.
Statistics from TRP found one in seven primary school kids have a mental illness while 65 per cent of adolescents do not seek help for mental illness.
Founder Hugh van Cuylenburg, 41, is a former teacher and knows first-hand how a child’s mental illness impacts the whole family.
“My little sister was 14-years-old when she was diagnosed with a severe eating disorder and I saw what it did to our family – I don’t want another family to have to go through that,” he said.
“We are trying provide practical strategies to prevent poor mental health. Everything is research-based. Studies show if you practice GEM it helps you to feel happier, improve mental health and cope better in challenging times.”
TRP works with children from kindergarten to year 12, but Mr van Cuylenburg finds students in grades four to six are the most receptive.
“They understand what we are talking about but aren’t worried about looking cool or any judgment yet,” he said.
“When we talk about mental illness, we talk about happiness; they love that because they know what it looks like.
“I’ve been doing this for 12 years and I’ve never had a group of kids not interested. They all get it, they’ve all seen someone struggling. Every single child will go through something challenging; we have armed them with tools that help them cope better when that time arrives.”
TRP has partnered with Coles to provide the program to 20 schools nationally, in particular regional and remote schools, including those with high Indigenous populations. The program officially launched Monday at Shepparton East Primary School with Collingwood Football Club AFLW player Jordyn Allen.
She practices the GEM philosophy and believes being mentally fit is as important as being physically fit.
“When I’m sleeping well, socially in touch with family and friends and have good energy, it’s an indicator I have a healthy balance in my life,” Allen said.
“I think learning about GEM and good mental health when young provide huge benefit for the later years of life. If you can develop strategies and mechanisms to prevent episodes of poor mental health early on, it will set you up in great stead.”
Coles chief legal and safety officer, David Brewster, said that over 120,000 team members have been introduced to GEM and he’s thrilled to take the program to 3000 school students.
“We’re particularly proud to reach Indigenous students and schools that would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in this important whole-of-school wellbeing program,” he said.
Originally published as Early resilience training for remote and regional primary school kids
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