Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds and the sixth leading cause of death for 5 to 14 year olds. The attempted suicide rate is even higher, AACAP, 1997. America needs to be more vigilant with providing its youth pre-emptive social and emotional support.
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, with an emphasis on anxiety and depression throughout the week of May 5th -11th. The state of our nation’s mental health is truly a terrifying picture. “The need for resilience and happiness skills is immense,” says Renee Jain, Founder of GoZen. A fully animated, online program designed to help children combat anxiety, stress and prevent depression. As an active contributor to National Mental Health Awareness Month – GoZen, in partnership with sister company GoStrengths, is launching the #FightFear campaign set to start May 5th.
Renee is urging other organizations, schools, and the media to reach out and get involved. “This is a prevention plan. Instead of sticking a band aid on the mammoth of issues our children face: cyber bulling, growing rates of anxiety, depression and increasingly violent behavior - we're going straight to the heart of the issue."
The GO brand is working on a new Kindle book that will help parents teach their child how to overcome anxiety. The Kindle book is a compressed version of the online course. The fully animated, interactive course is backed by the latest scientific research and hundreds of successful testimonials. The course allows parents and kids to work at their own pace learning how to overcome anxiety by engaging with the GoZen crew.
While GoZen is a program aimed at parents,GoStrengths is a program working to teach youth K-12, and teachers, essential life skills by utilizing the power of animated learning. This social and emotional learning (SEL) program is centered on 8 core skills of character development. Corporations, such as Google and Disney, are implementing similar mindfulness approaches to career development in both their leadership and social development learning strategies. These programs are needed in our schools.
In schools where social and emotional learning skills are actively incorporated into the curriculum, drastic, positive effects are beginning to emerge. Congressman Tim Ryan readily supports the integration of SEL training into schools nationwide, “There’s a whole body of literature in neuroscience today explaining why this works. We don’t have time to wait. It’s changing kids’ lives. It’s transforming teachers. It’s transforming schools. And we see it in our own community now.” SEL programs aim to raise awareness within the individual so that one has the ability to self-regulate, facing life’s challenges from a mindful perspective.
About: Renee Jain is an award winning entrepreneur, bestselling author and speaker. She is using her influence to bring awareness to the important issue of anxiety relief for children by offering programs and support to both schools and parents. Both the GoStrengths! and GoZen! programs are prestigious PTPA award winners.
