Australian Community Media (ACM) is helping to support the mental health and wellbeing of students across Australia through the Kindness Factory.
In partnership with the Kindness Factory, ACM will support of 80 schools around the country with a membership to the Kind School Network – a premium extension of the Kindness Curriculum.
The Kindness Curriculum was established by the Kindness Factory and Kaplan to address emotional learning and pro-social skills and qualities that support wellbeing.
ACM managing director Tony Kendall said: “We are at a critical juncture where the demand for mental health support is at an all-time high.”
“Our journalists have reported on mental health issues throughout regions of Australia for a long time and it’s evident we need to do more as a community. With this initiative we hope to provide some tools to help reverse what is a very worrying trend amongst our youth,” he added.
Scientific studies have shown that by incorporating kindness into education programs we can develop well-rounded individuals who are more likely to flourish cognitively, emotionally and socially.
The program launched in 2020 with a handful of school and has since grown to over 3000 nationwide.
After the success of the Kindness Curriculum 1.0, Kindness Factory Founder Kath Koschel is determined to share her knowledge even more broadly and with as many schools as possible.
“The feedback we’ve received from participants has driven us to create a second iteration that will give schools even more support on their kindness journey. I can’t wait to see the difference it makes to our next generation in terms of their development, growth and resilience,” she said.
The Kindness Factory will provide a comprehensive onboarding program that delivers a range of activities and benefits including: teacher information sessions, masterclasses on how to instil kind learnings and. kind conversation webinars from ambassadors sharing their experiences of fostering kindness.
There will also be action days encouraging students to participate in Kind acts, One Small Act podcast, access to the Kindness Curriculum and a keynote presentation from founder Koschel.
Kindness Factory chief executive Rachel Troy said: “We’ve been able to fastrack this initiative as a result of upfront funding from ACM. The work they do in the regions to keep communities strong is admirable and we are delighted to partner with them on this journey.”
ACM entered into an official media partnership with the Kindness Factory in 2021.
The rollout of the Kind School Network is the second phase of this initiative to integrate kindness into as many lives as possible with the aim of creating mentally strong communities.