THIS year is set to be a super positive one for students at two primary schools in suburbs west of Brisbane.
That’s because Immaculate Heart, Leichhardt, and Sacred Heart, Booval, will be working hard to achieve optimistic, anxiety-free environments.
For the first time they will be running Fun Friends – in Prep to Year 2 – and FRIENDS for Life – in Years 3 to 7.
The guidance counselor at both schools, Carmel Coleman, believes programs like these, recognised by the World Health Organisation as an effective treatment and prevention of anxiety and depression, are essential for the growth and development of young children.
“In my role I see a large number of students who experience anxiety, including separation anxiety when they have to leave their parents,” she said.
“A great number of our students, at both schools, have little or no confidence in their own abilities.
“They give up easily with their work and sometimes give up on their friendships.
“They’re not risk takers, they don’t want to get anything wrong, so they don’t try.”
Ms Coleman said anxiety-affected children in a range of ways from when they accidentally trip over or spill a drink, to coping with the separation of their parents.
But in an effort to combat these issues she arranged for all 47 staff and teachers to be trained in the FRIENDS programs.
This involved a day-long workshop, held at Immaculate Heart on January 21.
There, the trainer from not-for-profit organisation Pathways to Resilience Trust, Jasmine O’Brien, spoke about anxiety and depression.
She covered warning signs, risk and protective factors and how to implement the two programs.
Ms O’Brien quoted an Australian Bureau of Statistics finding – that in 2005 suicide was the number one cause of death for people aged between 15 and 34.
She then said 9 per cent of children with anxiety experience depression, which is a major risk factor for suicide.
“So it’s all about early intervention and prevention, taking a proactive approach,” she said.
“In short, these programs help build resilience and social emotional skills to help children become confident, happy and able to cope with whatever life throws their way.”
Ms Coleman agreed it was important to take a proactive, preventative approach with issues such as anxiety and depression.
She hoped that after having run the programs in both schools for some time, students would build up their resilience and coping skills.
“One of my goals is to help them realise the difference between red thoughts and green thoughts, negative thoughts and positive thoughts, so they can change their negative thoughts into more positive thinking,” she said.
Pathways to Resilience Trust is a not-for-profit organisation, which works to implement the FRIENDS programs in underprivileged schools free-of-charge.
Schools interested in taking the training can visit www.pathwaystoresilience.org for more information.
