We live in a world where everybody is searching for the cure. The cure for addiction, obesity, repeat offending, a cure for the rise in unemployment, domestic violence etc. The reason why there is such commitment to finding cures is because you can see results when a situation appears to be fixed but it is time for change, prevention is the key.
Millions if not billions of pounds are spent each year on the NHS, the mental health system and the prisons, but if a small percentage of this cost was put into prevention work, it would only have a positive impact. Even at secondary schools they are fighting a difficult battle for change, dealing with tough situations on a daily basis, uncontrollable pupils, violence, self-harm: the list goes on.
As a society, how do we become more pro-active instead of reactive? How do we make an impact on our children, their future and the future of our communities? We need to address our social issues as early as possible before they appear, ensuring our children can grow into acceptable members of society. It is vital to help them to develop the right skills to grow into well balanced young adults, and be assured that they are safe guarded from any issues that may affect them as they grow.
Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is the answer. This subject does exist within the schools, but is it effective? PSHE has not yet been made statutory within England but nevertheless schools do have to teach this. How well, is another question!
Our schools are under so much pressure to produce results within the statutory subjects but if we cannot develop socially acceptable individuals how will Maths and English see them through life? Statistics show that at least 65% of children born in the last century are predominantly visual learners (Visual Teaching Alliance, 2014) because of their significant exposure to technology. Therefore, it is essential that education provides a curriculum suited to their needs but unfortunately this has not always been the case.
For the last five years I have been working with leading consultants and schools to create an educational platform that provides programmes using leading technology to help schools address all of these issues. We are currently looking for more schools and company sponsors to support the development of our programme. Can you help?
