“Fostering Resilience in Children and Youth” is a new undertaking of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation aimed at enhancing children’s and youth’s mental resilience. The objective of the program is to develop teachers’ and educators’ competence; in their educational work they more and more often have to deal with young people who are depressed, have low motivation, experience loneliness and lack of self-esteem. The program is implemented in cooperation with the School with Class Foundation and the Education for Democracy Foundation.
“Fostering Resilience in Children and Youth” is based on experience gained in the implementation of other PAFF programs, in particular “The Relief Fund for NGOs and Civic Initiatives” conducted from 2020 to 2023 as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of that undertaking have shown that the pandemic had a strong impact on children’s and young people’s well-being which resulted in a sense of insecurity, depressed moods, low motivation, and difficulties in establishing relationships as well as getting involved in social activities.
The poor mental condition of Polish teenagers was confirmed by the results of the latest PISA study. Polish young people ranked far below the average in OECD countries as regards persistence, curiosity, readiness to cooperate, empathy, assertiveness, immunity to stress, and emotional control. Meanwhile UNICEF notes that 630,000 children in Poland need ongoing specialist support. Teachers, educators, parents and experts who participate in PAFF programs call not only for interventions but also securing effective prevention in the form of educational programs that will enhance social skills, mental toughness, and the well-being of the youngest.
PAFF offers a comprehensive approach to building children’s and youth’s mental resilience. Activities will be addressed to teachers and implemented at schools as well as to people involved in the non-formal education provided by NGOs, libraries, and culture centers. Thanks to the program, people working with children and young people will learn ways of building relationships within their peer groups, enhancing their self-esteem, self-assessment, or digital hygiene. They will also learn how to recognize symptoms of mood disorders in the youngest children, and how to react in crisis situations.
The offer for schools consists of supporting teachers in developing students’ social and emotional competence through building empowerment. The participants will have access to workshops, webinars and ongoing experts’ assistance. That component of the program is based on the experience gained over many years in the School with Class Initiative implementation and will be launched in the 2024/25 school year.
The offer for institutions of non-formal education covers online and on-site training sessions for people working with children and youth, as well as grants for projects implemented by the training participants to use their new skills in their everyday work.
An important component of the program is building the synergy of school and extra-school activities through establishing a network of cooperating schools, libraries and NGOs. It is also the objective of social campaigns aimed at building mental toughness of the youngest that will be carried out in local communities.
500 adults and more than 5,000 children and young people, mainly from villages and small towns, as well as groups with limited educational opportunities will participate in these activities over the years 2024-2025.
For more information on the program, visit:
The offer for teachers – the School with Class Foundation, Magdalena Plewowska-Semik
The offer for NGOs, culture centers and libraries – the Education for Democracy Foundation, Agnieszka Świeczka
