WEST MONROE, La. KTVE|KARD — Tammy Washington and Shauna Harrell with the Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana joined us on Louisiana Living to talk about Bully Proof Awareness Day coming up on Wednesday, October 23.

The Franklin Sun - ​Opportunities abound for those willing to spend time improving their communities in Franklin Parish, said Lisa Kiper, WSB Community Development Coordinator.

Kiper spoke with members of the Winnsboro - Franklin Parish Chamber of Commerce Thursday at their monthly meeting.
“If you are wondering where you fit in, I can find a place for you,” Kiper said.

One such “place” is with Impact Winnsboro, Kiper said. 

Impact Winnsboro is a branch of Convoy of Hope where different religions and races have come together to take on various projects throughout Franklin Parish.

“We want to be the hands and feet for helping people,” Kiper said. “We have to work together.”

Recently, Impact Winnsboro and Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana joined forces to bring early childhood curriculum to 13 daycare centers in Franklin Parish.

“Because of the curriculum, all of their scores have come up,” Kiper said. “Impact Winnsboro provided the labor and the Children’s Coalition provided the money.”

Convoy of Hope is a 25-year-old nonprofit organization providing communities and its residents with free essential items such as food, school supplies and haircuts. Convoy of Hope brings together a small army of local businesses, churches and governmental officials to be the labor to deliver the items to the people.

In another important area, volunteers are fighting back against bullying.

Twenty-one early childhood teachers have been trained to teach an anti-bullying curriculum called Al’s Pals through the efforts of Northeast Louisiana Children’s Coalition, Kiper said.

All elementary public schools along with Temple Pre-School will have the curriculum.

“We are super excited about this,” Kiper said.
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In the spring, “buddy benches” will be purchased for the schools. These benches will be designed for students who need help or for those who want to help or be a “buddy” to sit on the bench.

Many thanks to the City of Monroe and Monroe Fire Department for choosing the Children's Coalition as a recipient of school supplies from their August Benevolent Act.

​These supplies will allow Pre-K and Kindergarten students in our Al's Pals program to focus on their education and resiliency skills. ​

The Children’s Coalition is proud to announce that the Al’s Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices has expanded to Franklin Parish Pre-K classrooms. This program is packed with fun and creative lessons and applicable opportunities to strengthen the social-emotional development and resiliency skills among our students.

Parents should be on the lookout for the colorful letters that will give you ideas to work with you child in the home.  This is a great way for parents and teachers to reinforce learning for their student!

This initiative is a continue effort as part of the Talk, Read, Play Every Day in Franklin Parish project. In addition to the Al's Pals expansion, community leaders have helped install a Born Learning Trail at Davis Park, an Early Childhood Literacy Hub at the Library and several Free Little Library locations across the parish. Thank you Franklin Parish for the continued partnership and support.

Al's Pals is funded by the Northeast Delta Human Services Authority.

Mental health is an important aspect of an adult’s overall well-being, but what about with children? Tammy Washington, healthy living coordinator at The Children’s Coalition for Northeast Louisiana, says that mindfulness helps children learn to self-regulate better. 

On what mindfulness is
Mindfulness is a tool that assists children with self-regulation. Mindfulness will provide strategies for training their attention and helping them to focus on the present moment purposefully.
For example, if you take a mason jar that’s filled with water and you add glitter and some small tokens, the glitter and tokens will represent the thoughts and feelings. If you shake it up vigorously, you’ll see the glitter and tokens chaotically float throughout the water.

Understand that this is what it’s like for children – and even adults – when their thoughts and feelings are spinning out of control. So, a child may act out and become irritated or frustrated or unfocused. If you don’t teach them how to regulate their feelings, just telling them, “Do what I say do!” will continue a cycle that only works temporarily.
Mindfulness takes places as the glitter slowly starts to settle to the bottom. For the child, this takes place when you get them to have slow and steady breaths. They’re able to calm down and think about what’s going on around them. This is a life skill that we should all work hard at.

On why mindfulness is important for children today
It is important for children to be able to see and adjust to what's happening around them clearly. They learn skills to help them settle themselves, to steady their minds, and steady their hearts so they can function in this world as a generous and compassionate individual. This will help with academics because when they’re calm they’re focused.  

On the long-term effects of mindfulness
Some of the long-term effects are minimized aggression. The parents, teacher, and child will be able to notice the shift. They will also become self-aware. When I say self-aware, I’m saying that they’re knowledgeable of what they lack. They know their personality and what their characteristics are. They begin to accept themselves and they become more self-confident. Students who are more self-confident are more likely to accept others in spite of their differences.

On when to implement mindful exercises with children
You can start them at any age. Parents can teach this to their toddlers at home. Children don’t know how to verbalize their emotions – they don’t know how to calm themselves. Everything is learned after that. The first thing I recommend is for parents to practice it themselves. Parents are the best models. Children imitate everything we do. Take slow and steady breaths and watch your thoughts slow down. Other tips, are to talk your children for a walk around the house or at the park. Teach them to be more conscious of the things around them. It helps them be more appreciative. 
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Time to Talk is produced with the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana and BayouLife Magazine.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly who your child may or may not be communicating with on the internet. Online harassment is becoming one of leading causes of self-harm and suicide in teens. Rhonda Winbush, community outreach specialist at United HealthCare, says parents need to monitor what their children are doing online.

On the most common misconceptions about cyber bullying
Most teens feel that cyber bullying only happens to a certain group, but the truth is that everyone who uses the internet is subject to cyber bullying. Secondly, they believe that no one else is ever being bullied and that’s not true. With cyber communication, its easier for someone to bully you because you don’t know who’s behind that computer. Third, the difference between cyber bullying and other types of bullying is exactly what we’re discussing. It can be anyone. It can be someone that you were just at school with or someone that you’ve never known. 

On conversations parents should have with children on cyber bullying
Well, the major conversation that you want to have with your children is for them to not take the computer as their complete resource. The internet is an excellent resource, but they have to know how to use it. They have to know, as a parent, I have to monitor certain things that my children are seeing and doing on the computer. Also, when something is going on they need to report it. Tell a parent or tell a teacher so that it won’t affect them.

On what parents and educators can do stop cyber bullying
The first thing I would say is that we can no longer say that kids are being kids. It’s become a major problem. Kids are taking their own lives or someone else’s life because they don’t have any type of support to tell them it okay and they can get help. As a parent, I have to make sure that my child is safe on the internet as well as at school. Getting teachers involved, counselors, and mental health professionals, to work with us as a unit and not separately.
Time to Talk is produced with the Children's Coalition for Northeast Louisiana and BayouLife Magazine.