RainbowSmart: Helping with Feelings and Emotions
Mental health in the UK is at an epidemic level, particularly within children. The shocking fact of the matter is that one in six children aged 5-16 are likely to have a mental health problem.
During Mental Health Week, we must ask ourselves some tough questions. What more we can do to help children with their mental health? Well, RainbowSmart could certainly become a positive first step toward this goal of bettering mental health and wellbeing.
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Breaking Down Barriers
On browsing the BBC News website recently, I came across a couple of articles that highlighted the struggle faced by the education sector. The barriers in place to positive mental health on a wider scale are numerous and sizeable.
The first article from 8th February stated that mental health support for children ‘lacks ambition’, with children receiving less support than adults in general. The report goes on to say that only a third of children with diagnosable mental ill health get support from specialist NHS services.
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Improving Education Around Energy Drinks
A recent report from the BBC outlined that up to a third of UK children consume at least one energy drink a week, with some consuming them almost daily. Given the health concerns associated with energy drinks, it goes without saying that this is an alarming statistic.
This blog is not designed to call for a ban on energy drinks, rather to increase and improve education on the risks around them. I personally enjoy the occasional energy drink to get me through the day at work. That said, I realise the value of limiting myself to one per day, often on alternate days of the week. Furthermore, as the labelling on energy drinks suggests, the products are very much unsuitable for children.
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Children's Mental Health Week: How RainbowSmart Encourages Positive Mental Health
Though children's mental health is a topic we've covered substantially in previous blogs, we feel it’s a topic that simply cannot be covered enough, especially during Children’s Mental Health Week (7th to 13th February).
Thinking about our recent venture into the App world, we want to emphasise that positive mental health among children is integral to the RainbowSmart ethos. We want children to be healthy, happy and thriving, though we realise that may not always be possible.
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Celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month
With 2022 now in full swing, February brings with it the opportunity to reflect on our history regarding the LGBTQ+ community. It’s clear that we’ve come a very long way from the dark days of old, but there is still so much more work to do. Homophobia and transphobia are still existent in our society, even if we don’t realise it.
In the early hours of 28 June 1969, something remarkable happened that changed the world as we know it. Police officers raided the Stonewall Inn; a gay club located in New York City. These raids were constant throughout the sixties, but this particular raid had repercussions that still echo across the world to this day.
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How RainbowSmart supports diversity and inclusivity
Making friends at an early age is never easy, especially in light of a pandemic that has robbed many children of those formative years building relationships with their classmates. For many children, the differences between themselves and others may seem intimidating.
With that in mind, it’s crucial to remind children that these differences are only skin deep. We have no need to place these barriers on ourselves, as they will only become more harmful at a later point in life. Hatred and discrimination are learned behaviours, and we as responsible adults have a duty to recognise that.
To mark #UniversalChildrensDay, we look at how RainbowSmart is supportive of inclusivity and diversity in five of the Rainbow Drop storybooks.
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