Youth Mental Health

Year 3, Week 47 (149 total reports)

15.03.2023-21.03.2023

REVIEW and ANNOUNCEMENTS

Play, collaboration and motivational interviewing (Juego, colaboración y entrevistas motivacionales). Important techniques for parenting and leadership (paternidad y liderazgo).

This Week’s Top Links

21.03.2023

New Research Shows Why Kids Need Play for Mental Health

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-art-of-talking-with-children/202303/new-research-shows-why-kids-need-play-for-mental

Unstructured play often occurs when a child is bored and finds creative solutions to their idleness. Unfortunately, many adults abhor boredom and we have inundated that time with social media and doom scrolling. Worse still, we project that need to fill every mental void onto our children. The truth is this projection is damaging. It limits the creativity of children and their sense of wonder. The type of boredom I’m speaking about is not the boredom often experienced in some classrooms when children sit for hours listening to an egocentric, redundant lecturer. It is the boredom they might feel when there is a lull in their day. We shouldn’t rush to fill that void with structured games or activities. The child will find something creative to do. And the more they are exposed to unstructured play, the more creative they become. Schedule downtime for your children and yourself. Avoid the compulsive rush to be continually busy or on a mobile device. Leave room for boredom and creativity. A compulsive generation would say, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground,” the truth is, “Idle hands are creativity’s opportunity…”

20.03.2023

On Mister Rogers' birthday, a question: Would today's GOP try to ban him for being woke?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnists/2023/03/20/mister-rogers-kindness-called-woke-trump-republicans/11494075002/

There is a cartoon in the links below where an individual (who hates “woke”) is asked to define it. In exasperation, she finally says, “It’s everything I don’t like…” Woke has become the MAGA GOP’s buzzword for compassion; caring for the vulnerable, standing against racism, being open to other people’s points of view and/or spending on healthcare or other programs that assist the poor. Fred Rogers was supportive of such things and wrote many episodes about racism and empathy. This question intrigued me and I sadly must answer in the positive. YES! The GOP would target Mister Rogers and try to ban him from television and teaching our children.

19.03.2023

7 Most Destructive Habits People Have

https://infinitymasculine.com/posts/7-most-destructive-habits-people-have

Please take an inventory from this article and pass it along to your friends. If you don’t find yourself admitting that you exhibit any of these habits, perhaps you need friends who will be more honest with you. As a pastor, I used to tell my congregation when encouraging them to go with me to detention centers and prisons; “We are all either sinners or liars.” I really love this quote from Eugene H. Peterson’s, The Message: Matthew 7:1-5 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

18.03.2023

The Power of Wonder: The Extraordinary Emotion that Will Change the Way You Live, Learn and Lead

https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/power-wonder-extraordinary-emotion-will-change-way-live-learn-lead-bookbite/40777/

This link, Next Big Idea Club, often has reviews of excellent new books and ideas that are about to be released. I’m infatuated with the quest to be a model of wonder. Even thinking of wonder as an emotion we can both co-regulate and develop is an exciting concept to me. Wonder as a key ingredient in leadership, parenting and educating would reform the way that we raise children and relate with each other. Use this article to explore how you can develop the habits of wonder and apply them to your life.

17.03.2023

The So-Called “Culture Wars”

https://kottke.org/23/03/the-so-called-culture-wars

Like “Woke,” “Culture Wars,” is an adage of the radical right used to send people off into rabbit holes of deluded thinking. Culture Wars is a clandestine term for hatred. It attempts to WHITEwash efforts to raise awareness or compassion for people of color or atypical behavior. It attempts to persuade us that we should return to an America that was GREAT: Great for white, heterosexual, businessmen. A time when no one questioned the norm for fear of political hacks like Joseph R. McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover.

16.03.2023

The Tactic That Can Make Arguing With A Stubborn Person Much Easier

https://www.fatherly.com/life/how-to-use-motivational-interviewing-change-persons-mind

Motivational Interviewing: This is a technique often used by therapists when dealing with addictions and compulsions, what I often refer to as, “Yeahbut…” situations. When no matter what you suggest the person responds with, “Yeah but…” The next time you find yourself in a repetitive loop with someone who is as ensconced in their version of truth as you are (admit it…), switch to this technique and both of you might come out learning more—if not about the topic—at least about each other.

15.03.2023

Harvard career expert: The No. 1 'desirable skill' that very few people have—especially men

https://apple.news/AAy3HpuV-T5OfX8AAeyM2oA

Encouraging collaboration in young people means moving beyond the culture of individualism. Our individualistic society often rewards self-initiative instead of group collaboration. Many of our classrooms are still set up as if the only “expert” in the room is the person lecturing. Collaboration recognizes that we each have expertise we can bring to the table and a leader’s role is to call forth that group knowledge.