Child•cor

17/03/2022

So incredibly proud of another student!!! Melissa is the recipient of the highest award for Girl Scouts. She spent 90 hours creating a plan to make a positive impact on the mental health of teenagers. She collected data,created a blog, website and Instagram page to reach as many teenagers as possible. Her efforts had teenagers helping teenagers. Such a brilliant idea as we all know that teenagers are more apt to listen to their peers, creating stronger relationships and connections. Bravo, Melissa!

Read about and visit Melissa‘s work below:

Shake Off Stress Website: https://shakeoffstress.wixsite.com/my-site

Shake Off Stress Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shakeoffstress/

“Many teenagers are plagued with a disease that seems impossible to treat: stress. Teenagers are asked to balance a lot of things on their plates. An eight hour day of grueling classes is often preceded or followed by sports practices, extracurriculars, lessons, and mounds of homework. With the pandemic, a whole new assortment of stressors have been integrated into teenager’s lives. Unpredictable school closures and quarantines prevent students from getting the level of teacher/peer support and interaction they are used to, and takes a mental toll on students who worry about their health and the health of their loved ones. Social media, a popular stress relief agent for many teenagers, is overwhelmed with information about COVID-19, social justice issues, and politics.
Although the pandemic has weakened with time, its effects and the stress it has caused continue to be prevalent in teenager's lives. According to a 2020 survey from the American Psychological Association, 43% of teenagers say their stress increased in 2020. Despite the somewhat improvement in the pandemic during 2021, stress continued to increase, with 46% of Gen Z stating that their mental health was better before the pandemic. Members of Gen Z (teenagers) were most likely to report decreased mental health, as compared to millennials, Gen X adults, boomers, and older adults.
What is being done to help teenagers alleviate their stress? It seems as if the majority of resources available are targeted towards adults and young children. I created a platform that raises awareness for teenage stress and provides stress relief techniques that can be useful for a lifetime.”

16/03/2022

Love this! It’s in everything!

In an increasingly digital and global society, the skills that matter for lifetime and career success are the social and emotional competencies that enable people to collaborate, solve problems, and adjust to change.

27/02/2022

The Ardsley Community Center has invited us to support the needs of youth in our area! Childcor is offering a 6-week journey to allow kids a chance to connect, be curious, empathize and just have some fun, laughing together in-person!

For more details: https://www.smore.com/12nmg

To register: https://ardsleyny.myrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=2992

A Kid's Day Off! Focusing on the Heart and the Mind

02/02/2022

“We will survive the COVID-19 pandemic, but I’m not sure we can survive an entire generation whose collective trauma sends them hobbling into adulthood. We need more research, more preventative care and more early intervention. And there’s still time.

If we get it right, today’s kids could emerge as the strongest generation America has ever produced.”

-Goldie Hawn, Founder MindUp

01/02/2022

Brilliant resource by the Child Mind Institute for parents, educators and students. A library of short videos on relaxation techniques, managing emotions, and many more by age group.

A series of free, evidence-based video and print resources that caregivers and educators can use to teach their kids critical mental health and coping skills.

29/12/2021

As some of us head back into remote learning, a reminder to get some extra support through my workshops on YouTube for parents, students and teachers. Stay safe, be well and put self-care at the top of your list 💗

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

16/12/2021

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

I know the last thing we need is more negativity these days, but the fact that the #1 targeted and abused victim of child sexual exploitation is toddlers because they lack the communication skills to tell the story and ask for help, is appalling and deserves our attention.

We can start by raising awareness.

30/11/2021

HAPPY !

In my morning mailbox from Dr. Lori Santos, Yale Psychology professor…

I’ve spoken before about how helping others is a proven way of boosting our own happiness and wellbeing, but the psychology behind how and when we choose to help is fascinating.

Imagine you’re heading to some fancy event - think a big party or an important business conference. Your route takes you by a shallow pond… in which you see a small child.

They’re struggling, thrashing around, crying out. They’re about to drown.

The water isn’t deep enough to be a risk to you… so will you rush in to save the child?

What about ruining your clothes and shoes? Remember that fancy event - you’re wearing the most expensive things you own. Is it worth sacrificing them to prevent a child from dying?

This is a famous thought experiment posed by the philosopher Peter Singer. He finds that most people immediately say they’d rescue the child despite the expense of replacing some $200 shoes. Only a “monster” would leave an innocent child to drown.

Then Singer poses another related question. He points out that there are countless children at risk of dying right this second. So why aren’t you making a similar monetary sacrifice to save them from preventable diseases, such as malaria? In fact, the same $200 could potentially prevent far, far more deaths.

“We’re all in this situation. For a relatively small amount of money we could save the life of a child,” says Singer. “Am I any different from the person who walks past the child in the pond?”

Singer’s “shallow pond” analogy shows that we suck at seeing effective opportunities to save lives, unless they are literally screaming in our faces.

Our brains tend to notice what social scientists have called anidentifiable victim – like a child in distress right in front of us. And research shows we all help more quickly when the problem facing us has a human face.

Deborah Small and George Loewenstein at Carnegie-Mellon University had people play a game where they would win or lose $10. The subjects didn’t meet the other players in person, but some “winners” were told to draw a numbered card which would link them to a specific “loser”.

All the “winners” were then invited to help out the “losers” by donating some of their prize money – though their anonymity would be assured and no one would find out if they just kept the $10 all to themselves.

The “winners” who were told their donation would help a specific player (“I am linked with player number FIVE.”) were less likely to keep all the money, and made far more generous donations than the “winners” who were asked to share with an undetermined recipient. Some even gave away the whole ten bucks.

This is the reason why we’re often more likely to contribute to sending a sick child to Disneyland than donate to a fund to finding a cure for the same disease. It’s also why charities send you fundraising flyers with one particular named individual on the front cover, even though the disaster they're collecting for is affecting many thousands of people.

The “shallow pond” analogy also reveals that we don’t always make rational decisions when it comes to our generosity. Messing up our clothes to save one child is a no-brainer, but spending the equivalent to save an entire village of children doesn’t seem to compute in the same way.

Since many people now observe the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday as , it’s a great time to consider spending money on others in need - and doing so a bit more rationally than we usually would.

But even if you don’t have any spare cash for a charity right now, I hope learning about our generosity irrationalities can help you do the

💙

21/11/2021

The benefits of asking, “If you could undo one “mistake” you’ve made in your life, what would it be and why would you undo it?”…

I follow Dr. Lori Santos, a Yale Psychology professor. She’s one of my personal gurus who I find knowledgeable and inspiring. With the Thanksgiving dinner table in mind, she recently posted studies completed on the benefits of deep conversation. “Social interactions are great for improving our sense of wellbeing, but some are better than others. And research shows that aiming low with our choice of conversational openings limits the enjoyment we derive from meeting up with other people.”

She goes on to discuss how we all crave meaningful relationships, but at times are hesitant to have meaningful conversations that create such bonds. She details the studies by saying, “The people who had the deeper conversations felt more connected to their conversation partners than those that had the shallow conversations. Subjects also underestimated the happiness boost they’d get from deep conversation, which in all cases wound up being worth the initial embarrassment. If you’re willing to share something personal during a conversation – the person you’re talking to will be far more receptive to you than you might expect.”

I find in my own relationships, even with my students, if you share a personal feeling, the people you are with are likely to open up too. This supports a sense of mutual connectedness, something we all need.

She concludes with the following suggestions:

“So if you find yourself passing dishes of sweet potato or mac ‘n’ cheese around the table and talking about the temperature outside, try one of these conversation starters:

For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about your future, or anything else, what would you want to know?

What’s the most important thing I should know about you?

If you could undo one mistake you have made in your life, what would it be and why would you undo it?

The science says it’ll feel way better than you think to serve up smaller portions of small talk this Thanksgiving.”

Lastly, next to my dinner table are Connection Cards For Kids. We choose 2-3 cards each night to spark meaningful conversation within my family.

101 Thoughtful Conversation Starter Connection Cards for Kids and Parents - Questions & Stocking Stuffers for Family Time, Deep Conversation, Car Road Trips, Emotional Growth, Relationship Development

14/11/2021

❤️

24/10/2021

So what do we do? How do we help our children cultivate a positive body image?

It’s not easy, given the pressure to be super-thin and sexy, too. Here you will find a parents' guide to raising your daughter with a healthy body image.

23/10/2021

As a follow-up to my post on the reverse selfie, this video is enpowering and validating to those that struggle with ideal body image. Could skinny be a fad?

A diverse cast of models shows how the standard of beauty for women has changed dramatically over time.Find out more about how our perception of women's beau...