Two years on from the 2022 floods, Social Futures is delivering unique supports designed around the needs of children and teens, including a puppet who talks about his flood experiences and also drumming circles, dance groups and other therapeutic recreational and play activities. Many children and teenagers in northern New South Wales have experienced floods, bushfires and a pandemic in just a few years, and they are aware that global temperatures are rising, and extreme weather events are becoming more common. Social Futures is supporting young people with an array of positive programs.
Two years on from the 2022 floods, Social Futures is delivering unique supports designed around the needs of children and teens, including a puppet who talks about his flood experiences and also drumming circles, dance groups and other therapeutic recreational and play activities.
Many children and teenagers in northern New South Wales have experienced floods, bush fires and a pandemic in just a few years, and they are aware that global temperatures are rising, and extreme weather events are becoming more common.
Social Futures is supporting young people with an array of positive programs on the second year mark of the record-breaking February 28, 2022 floods.
Late last year, Resilient Kids, a $10 million program, was launched to support the health and well-being of Northern Rivers young people aged eight to 18 years. The Resilient Kids Program is funded by Healthy North Coast through a grant provided by the Australian Government and will support thousands of Northern Rivers youth and at least 75 schools.
Social Futures General Manager of Children, Youth and Families Services, Melissa Gordon, said the Resilient Kids program uses recreation therapy for teenagers and play therapy for children because it was a gentle but highly effective way of working with the young.
“Play is the way that children naturally communicate – it’s their language. Instead of sitting down in a counselling room and unpacking their challenges to a therapist, children use play to process what they’ve experienced,” Ms Gordon said.
“The Greek philosopher Plata said, ‘You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation.’
“For teens recreation therapy, like drumming circles, craft, cooking, green spaces and dancing have been proven to reduce depression, stress and anxiety, and physically and mentally strengthen young people. It also builds confidence and gives teens the opportunity to socialise in a positive and rewarding way.”
Ms Gordon said many children and youth in the Northern Rivers had lived experience of extreme weather events and are also aware of the dangers of global warming.
“No other generation has faced this challenge, and that’s why it is so important that our young people are supported so they can grow to thrive and succeed in this changing world,” she said.
Six Resilient Kids Hubs have opened around the Northern Rivers in Murwillumbah, Mullumbimby, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle and Casino, where recreational therapeutic sessions are held such as drumming, dancing, cooking and craft, and also study circles. A Resilient Kids worker also visits schools around the region speaking about mental health post floods, and available supports for students and their families.
Healthy North Coast co-designed the Resilient Kids program with children, young people, schools, families, and service providers from across the Northern Rivers.
Clubhouse Lismore reopens two years after record-breaking floods
Clubhouse Lismore – a free after-school technology-learning hub for young people – has a new home in the centre of the Lismore, two years after the original space was damaged in the 2022 floods.
Social Futures CEO Tony Davies said Clubhouse Lismore is valued by Northern Rivers young people. (After the original venue was damaged, Social Futures continued to deliver the Clubhouse program from a small space in Lismore, but there is now a new dedicated Clubhouse Lismore.)
“I often describe Clubhouse as an engine room for our future digital leaders,” Mr Davies said.
Clubhouse Lismore provides young people (aged 12 to 17 years) with a safe and supportive space to explore technologies like video and sound editing, movie making and animation creation with a youth worker. The Clubhouse is equipped with sound and video editing, games, robotics and traditional crafts and electric musical instruments.
The Clubhouse Network, which began in Boston, Massachusetts, has 100 locations around the world and has made a difference to the lives of over 50,000 youth. There are more than 120 clubhouses in 19 countries that introduce young people to creative technology.
Jack the Flood Puppet
The Resilient Kids program has a mascot, Jack the Puppet, who works with Lisa Wilson, a puppeteer and qualified and registered play and creative art therapist employed by Social Futures. (Lisa completed a Bachelor of Social Science in Australia then a postgraduate diploma in Play and Creative Arts Therapies in the UK. She has loved puppets ever since she was given a Snoopy puppet as a child.)
“Younger children relate to Jack because he dresses like a kid and he’s a similar size to small children – he’s a large puppet and very cool.”
Lisa has been delivering play therapy for 15 years and developing ventriloquy skills. She says children are usually so entranced in Jack they forget he is a puppet.
“I’ve had children who are really distressed and upset and all they want to do is talk to Jack,” she said. “Other times the children will ask me to cover Jack’s ears if they don’t want him to hear something private.”
Last year as part of the Strong Minds in the Early Years program, funded by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, Lisa and Jack visited more than 30 preschools and worked with over 200 children, many who had lost homes, preschools and personal belongings in the floods. Together they read the Birdie Story Books on Natural Disasters, about a bird and frog whose homes were hit by a big storm.
“We read the book then Jack talks about his experience and the children will share theirs if they want to. Jack has been through everything you can imagine in terms of his life experiences. Jack went through the floods, and he talks about feeling mixed up.
“A parent told me her little girl was having a meltdown because there was rain, thunder and lightning one day. The little girl said, ‘I feel like Jack feels’ I feel all muddled up inside and confused’.
“That was the breakthrough for the family. They were able to talk about feelings and since then the girl has been a lot calmer. That’s it for children. The play therapy sessions allow children to recognise different feelings. Those feelings come and go and that’s a natural part of being human.
“Jack helps children to navigate those strong or big emotions because he has been through so many things himself. Children open up to Jack – he has a lovely face.”
“Play relaxes and enables us to talk about things that are difficult. Last year I also ran sessions introducing play therapy to preschool educators in the Northern Rivers,” she said.
Jack the Puppet and Lisa are now part of Resilient Kids, and Jack has makes appearances at community events.
Drum circles for youth
A drum circle is a group of people sitting in a circle or semicircle playing a variety of drums and percussion instruments. Each person has the opportunity to express themselves drumming and connect with others through rhythm. It is a social and expressive activity which many teens embrace and research has found it to have therapeutic benefits. Drums are one of the oldest musical instruments dating back to 5500 BC. Because it is a physical activity, drumming prompts the release of endorphins –the same feel-good chemical released while exercising. Drumming circles also create an inclusive atmosphere and increase cooperation between young people.
Drum circles are held at the Resilient Kids Hubs.
Green Space and Youth Mental Wellbeing
Resilient Kids Hubs workers also promote time in green spaces – the benefits have been documented in this research paper, ‘The Association between Green Space and Adolescents’ Mental Well-Being: A Systematic Review’.
“Exposure to green space is a promising intervention for promoting adolescents’ mental well-being. A growing body of research has found that exposure to green space has a variety of positive impacts on young people’s health. These benefits include enhanced mental health and resilience and increased physical activity and reduced risk of obesity,” the report found.
“It is evident that time spent in, or exposure to, green space can improve positive mood and emotions, provide a retreat from daily hassles, and reduce the risk of psychological and physiological stress in adolescents.”
Dancing and youth mental health
Dancing is another activity promoted by the Resilient Kids Hubs workers. A new report found that dancing may be better than other exercise for improving mental health.
New research finds that undertaking structured dance of any genre is generally equal and occasionally more effective than other types of physical activity interventions for improving a range of psychological and cognitive outcomes. A structured dance program of at least six weeks’ duration can significantly improve psychological and cognitive health outcomes equivalent to other forms of structured exercise interventions, finds new research from Australian researchers.