The last month has been a challenging time, to say the least. It feels like it was a hundred years ago that we could high five youth in an afterschool program, get a haircut, or buy toilet paper whenever we wanted. No doubt you have experienced feelings of confusion, grief, disappointment, and loss over the past month. We know that it is the same for the young people that we educate. Indeed, our world as changed.
As a leading youth development organization in the state of Nebraska, the state 4-H youth development office is creating a series of articles addressing the social-emotional well-being of young people. The title of the series is, Supporting Young People Through Change. There will be five articles in the series and they are:
· Comfort in a Changing World
· Connecting in Changing Times
· Coping in Changing Times
· Creating Your Plan in Changing Times
· Contributing in a Changing World
The plan is to have a new article sent out to the system starting today to May 8th. These articles are meant to be used in local newspapers and with social media. Feel free to use as appropriate with your local media outlets. Additionally, we are providing resources for you, as youth development professionals, on the topics to help you meet the needs of your clientele. Attached to this email is the first article and a list of resources to help you and your communities cope with the current situation and help young people develop into caring, connected, and capable adults.
Please, let Michelle Krehbiel know if you have any questions about this effort or have any additional topics that you think should be covered.
More details at: https://disaster.unl.edu/comfort-changing-world