Kidsline Helps Kids ‘Express Their Colours’

Kidsline is calling on kids to express their colours, as today marks the beginning of Kidsline Week 2013 (5-11 August), an initiative to help raise awareness of the valuable support Kidsline provides to Kiwi kids in need.

Now in its 10th year, the focus of the 2013 Kidsline Week is ‘The Colour of Feelings’, and aims to encourage young Kiwis to express themselves through colour and spread the ‘It helps to talk’ message.

“Kidsline is uniquely about kids helping kids,” says Kidsline CEO Jo Denvir. “And our Kidsline Buddies have found that encouraging kids to describe their feelings as colours, whether yellow, purple or grey, can be a very powerful and compelling way for a child to start a conversation about how they are feeling. Using colours can be a fun, creative way to help children to express themselves and talk about what’s going on so they can receive support.”

A new addition to this year’s programme is the Kidsline “Express your Colour” YouTube channel, where kids can upload a video (up to three minutes long) of themselves expressing the colour of their feelings.

“Videos could take the form of dance, music, art, or any other creative way to express themselves. We want everyone to get involved – kids, parents and schools – and hope to see whole classes, as well as individuals, getting behind us.”

“It’s a neat way to show kids that it’s fun and okay to share their feelings – no matter what colour or colours they feel,” Ms Denvir says.

And there are some great prizes for schools. In fact, the school with the most video entries will receive technology equipment kindly donated by HP New Zealand, with individual participation prizes from sponsors New Zealand Couriers and Nestlé also in the mix.

Auckland University student and Kidsline Resource Team member Penny Maxwell has been a Kidsline volunteer for four years and “really enjoys the opportunity to talk with and support other kids”.

“I think it’s important to help kids who may not have the support they need at home, or might not have someone to talk to. I love being a Buddy and knowing that I’m making a difference for someone, even in a small way.”

Throughout the month of August, the Kidsline team will be visiting schools to talk about ‘The Colour of Feelings’ and provide materials like school book stickers and colour cards.

Street fundraising will take place during the weekend of 5-11 August and funds raised during Kidsline Week 2013 will be put towards expanding Kidsline’s service hours and further raising awareness of the ‘It helps to talk’ message.

For more information about Kidsline or to make a donation, please visit http://www.kidsline.org.nz/The-Colour-of-Feelings-2013_2062.aspx

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Scheduled Buddy visits throughout August:

During Kidsline Week – Kidsline Buddies will visit schools in the Auckland area to discuss ‘The Colour of Feelings’ campaign.

• Kelston Intermediate – 8.45am, Monday 5 August

• St Pius Catholic School, Glen Innes – 8.55am, Tuesday 6 August

• Royal Oak Intermediate – 9.45am, Wednesday 7 August

• Otahuhu Intermediate – 12.00pm, Thursday 8 August

• Birdwood School, Ranui – 2.10pm, Thursday 8 August

• Panmure Bridge School – 12pm, Friday 9 August

Notes:

• In 2011/12, 3.2% of children aged 2–14 years had been diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorder or behavioural problems (ADHD/ADD). This rate has increased 1.8% from 2006/07. Source: Ministry of Health, (2012) The Health of New Zealand Children. New Zealand Health survey.

• 2077 students from 28 randomly selected New Zealand schools found that around 80 percent reported they had some experiences of bullying. Source: Boyd, S. (2012) Wellbeing@School: building a safe and caring school climate that deters bullying Overview paper. New Zealand for Educational Research. Wellington.

• New Zealand is ranked second worse in the OECD when it comes to students experiencing three or more forms of bullying. Source: LeTendre, G., Baker, D., Goesling, B. (2012) Student victimisation: national and school system effects on school violence in 37 Nations.

• Around 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys in New Zealand have experienced sexual abuse. Source: Family violence clearing house.
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• About 10 children are killed every year in New Zealand by a member(s) of their family. Source: Family violence clearing house.
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