We have an epidemic of loneliness. It was there before the p@ndemIc, & now the last 2 yrs has exacerbated it.
W/ our Schools programs, we have begun using a tool called “Menti.” This tool allows kids to take out their phones in whatever assembly we’re doing, ask a question of the group, & they can submit & see their responses up on the screen, live, in bar chart & percentage format.
One of the questions we always ask is: of this list of 20 challenges – things like divorce of parents, difficult neighborhood, bullying, cyber bullying, sickness or loss of a loved one, etc., which is the GREATEST challenge that YOU personally face? The kids know that their answers will be anonymous.
W/o fail, the number one response every time we’ve done this exercises has been: “Feeling Left Out.”
We then break the students up into groups of 20 & have them sit facing each other. They each have a piece of paper w the SameHere Hand in the middle, a space for them to write their name, & then 5 circles they can fill in w the most common challenges they face (inclusive of the one they already shared).
Once that’s done, we ask each group to go arnd in a circle & share the challenge they are MOST comfortable sharing, from their list of 5. Each of the other students writes the name of each sharer – & puts a check if they already knew that challenge was one that their classmate faced, or an X if they didn’t. Without fail, when added up, there are always 2 X’s for every check. We don’t discuss/know each other’s challenges bc we aren’t typically vulnerable. Vulnerability isn’t encouraged/fostered.
But here’s the bigger takeaway for me: While – “Feeling Left Out” is the number one response when it’s anonymous…it almost NEVER comes up when talked abt in groups. It’s the thing we seem to struggle w the most, but at the same time, the thing we’re most fearful of sharing. Why? Bc it shows weakness? We seem less than? It makes us seem like we aren’t “cool”?
If you look on the next slide, look at our friend @ckdaddy72 when he first did Project Thrive w the Chicago Wolves. As adults we can model this openness for our kids. We struggle w it too.
