Teens In Balance

Getting to Michelle Obama

I have to say I’m excited about Michelle Obama’s initiatve, Let’s Move! and the new foundation, Partners for a Healthier America.  This is great timing for BodiMojo, the online teen health destination we are building, with help from a Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National Institutes of Health. But here’s the question: if the initiative is truly about developing  “a strong network of members across the business, government, academic, and nonprofit sectors who will commit to accelerating efforts to address childhood obesity,” how does one actually get in front of Michelle or her group???

We’ve got a terrific online program built with the help of teens and being testing by about 250 Massachusetts high schoolers: BodiMojo. We’ve got a story to tell and we need to get the word out as we launch later this spring. I’m writing this on my personal blog so I can be brazen about my calling on friends and colleagues to help me lead the way to be part of this important national initiative. Really, I can’t afford a lobbyist.

So why teens, you ask?  Because they are the toughest and savviest group out there and they get short shrift on obesity prevention in lieu of the “risky” stuff, like sex and drugs.  Most obesity prevention programs target youngsters/tweens and families, but really teens are a key group.  (Brands and marketers know this: capture brand loyalty among teens and you have a customer for life.)

I hear it all time, “Teens don’t care about health!”  I honestly wonder if these people actually talk to teens.  Prevention messages may fall on deaf ears, but ask any teen if they care about their own health, and they’ll say yes. It’s just that they see it as part of who they are, not as some separate silo in their life they have to attend to – which is how grown-ups think (The life checklist: job, car, gym, kids, vacation, bills, etc.). 

Here’s the thing: Teens are making their own decisions and solidifying health habits that will transfer to young adulthood. They want to fit in, personalize their stuff, create an identity, and be part of civic life. They have strong opinions – and for the most part – make pretty wise decisions in spite of brain blips here and there. They care deeply about what they look like and just about all of them have body image concerns. In my estimation, we need to re-position “obesity prevention.” It’s time to brand healthy decision making as part of style – your personal charm. You know… your “mojo.”

So, help me get to Michelle.

Bringing joy into schools?

Last week my hero was a 7-year old boy who raised $240,000 for Haiti by riding his bike around London. 

This week I have a new hero. His name is Steve Gross, founder of Project Joy (see opening video on website). He brings the radical notion of playfulness back into the lives of children, especially children who have been traumatized or live in traumatizing conditions.

A charismatic guy, clearly a motivational speaker whether he’d consider that label or not, he got a room full of teachers, principals, counselors, nurses and psychologists to stand up and play a game – a game that got at least 75% of the audience to get up and dance.

What I loved about his presentation however, was not getting the middle-aged grownups to have a little fun. He was demonstrating the concept of JOY by felt experience – Bringing joy back into teaching, into therapy, into childhood, and into the present moment.

At a presentation at a Harvard Medical School course on School Mental Health, he put on the screen this quote from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine:

“The most threatening health crisis facing children in America is exposure to adverse childhood experiences.”

That’s a wake up call. We worry about acting out behaviors, substance use, precocious sexuality, high school drop out rates, and youth violence. These are the issues that make the headlines in newspapers and the media and are of utmost concern.  What does not catch anyone’s attention is the antidote to these problems in childhood and who is doing this subversive work.  This is the mission of Project Joy:

“Our mission is to ensure that nothing destroys the playfulness of children.  Nothing.”

Mr. Gross defines playfulness as:  “The motivation to freely and joyfully engage with, connect with, and explore the surrounding world.”

And he’s talking from preschool on up… and I’d venture to guess his strategies work with adults, too, after getting this audience to loosen up.  He crafted the game with clear boundaries – you don’t have to play you don’t want to.  Here’s the message:

When children and teens have permission to play… they play!

Simple? Profound?

It’s necessary and it seems like too many professionals and educators have forgotten how to play. You can see it in grown-ups' contrained bodies, facial expressions, and attitudes. In my own child’s middle school, the sixth graders only get recess half the school year – it’s an “elective”. We lament about this modern reality of schools taking out PE and recess time. But play doesn’t just happen on the playground; it is a philosophy, an attitude, a commitment.

How does the Project Joy instill play in school settings?  Through games, choices, empowerment, co-creating rules, employing transitions for children who may be overwhelmed or over stimulated (use of breathing exercise or soft music), and role modeling and engagement by older kids with younger kids. In effect, playfulness can counteract the effects of trauma on the mind and body – it becomes a means for affect regulation, problem solving, and empowerment through connection with others.

Play changes physiology. Play = healing.

Bring it on.

Other Resources:

The ACE Project

Invisible Children – Kids At Risk Action