Article Excerpt: The Greatest 8 is a free text message service developed in Rhode Island to help parents give their children the eight skills for mental wellness:
- Accomod8: Coping and resilience
- Collabor8: Problem solving
- Elev8: Self-perceived confidence
- Celebr8: Diversity awareness and respect
- Negoti8: Conflict management and resolution
- Contempl8: Identifying and understanding feelings
- Regul8: Balancing emotions
- Communic8: Communication skills
The weekly texts are catered to your child’s age, from newborn to 8 years old. “We teach kids how to tie their shoes, we teach them how to talk, how to walk, but we’re not intentionally helping to build mental health skills,” Susan Orban explained. Orban is the coordinator for the Washington County Coalition for Children, which developed the service along with partners URI and Brown University. She believes the issue of kids’ mental health has been simmering for quite a while, but COVID-19 catapulted it to the forefront, as the impacts of virtual learning, social isolation and wearing masks took hold.
Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/4ehbzhm6
Article Source: WPRI