6.
What are the benefits of kids.now?
Towards Prevention of Child Abuse
Preparation of Youth for Work
Safe and Healthy Communities
For Kids and Schools
Research shows that after school is the time when
kids are most likely to get into trouble. Our on-site,
after-school program keeps them out of trouble
and fosters positive youth development at the same
time.
Our kids gain a better understanding of themselves
and others. One student said, “Kids.now helped
me learn to help my friends get through tough times.”
Our kids are entrusted with objectively evaluating
themselves by well defined criteria. This develops
their self-awareness, integrity and focus on results.
Our kids serve as role models for their fellow
students, because they learn to enjoy spending
their time productively and gain an understanding
of how to deal with problematic influences like
drugs, bullying, sex, divorce, media and stereotypes.
The kids.now program complements the public and
Catholic school curriculum and supports public
education. CONTACT US IF YOU WOULD LIKE KIDS.NOW
AT YOUR SCHOOL!
For Parents
Parents reported in an independent third-party
study that they found their kids.now children more
independent, assertive and able to handle the pressures
of pre-teen life. Said one parent, “My child
is more assertive since being in the kids.now program.
He is not afraid to try new things.”
Another parent described her daughter as “more
mature” after the program.
Kids.now kids learn strategies to prevent and
resolve conflicts. The ensuing reduction in family
conflict is very welcome to parents. One student
who had problems with criticism wrote, "Kids.now
helps me resolve problems with people around me.”
Holding the program at the kids’ school
immediately after classes reassures the parents
that their kids are in a safe place and relieves
them of the necessity to arrange for transportation.
In general, parents of graduates feel more confident
and secure about their children’s ability
to cope and thrive. CONTACT US IF YOU WOULD LIKE
KIDS.NOW AT YOUR SCHOOL!
For the Community
Our kids gain a sense of purpose and social responsibility.
Many graduate from the program eager to give back
to their community. Kids.now graduate Eugenia Olu-Cole,
for example, who was in the pilot program and is
now a student at York University, returned to her
old middle school, Elia MS, as a kids.now volunteer
coach, sharing her life experience with kids from
her own neighbourhood!
Our kids are less likely to fall prey to high-risk
activities. Kids.now contributes to a safer community
and a decreased burden on social funding. A recent
report from the non-partisan US National Academy
of Sciences, Community
Programs To Promote Youth Development, concluded that “adolescents
who spend time in communities that are rich in
developmental opportunities...experience less risk
and show evidence of higher rates of positive development.”
Our kids are more likely to succeed and take a
leadership role in whatever they do, resulting
in a more productive and better managed society
and economy. The Governor of the Bank of Canada,
David Dodge, points out that since a small cohort
of children will eventually carry a large group
of retirees, each child must become as productive
as possible. (The Globe and Mail, March 29, 2004)
We use funds responsibly and economically. Our
organization has developed clear-cut policies,
procedures and guidelines for setting up new programs,
facilitating easy expansion without a decline in
the quality of the program.
The kids.now organization is itself mentored by
the time-honoured youth organization Big Brothers
Big Sisters of Canada, capitalizing upon the depth
of their firsthand experience and resulting in
more economical and efficacious delivery of our
services.
The kids.now team is a broadly based collaboration
of schools, corporations, foundations, community
groups and volunteers from all walks of life. This
collaborative activity has a positive ripple effect
on social relations and corporate and civic responsibility
throughout the community.
Our kids learn how to express their own ideas
confidently, thus contributing to a more articulate
and less easily manipulated citizenry.
Our kids learn the importance of healthy balanced
living through understanding stress management
and goal setting and through the encouragement
of reward points for every hour of non-mandatory
physical activity.
Our kids unleash their imagination and creativity
so they can become entrepreneurs or artists and
also foster imagination and creativity in others.
Our kids have more passion and more interest in
making a contribution to school and community life.
Our volunteers return to their jobs exhibiting
the volunteer’s well-documented increase
in morale and decrease in absenteeism and stress
levels. Society benefits from increased productivity.
We deliver kids.now in schools attended by children
from some of the most disadvantaged areas of Toronto,
Jane-Finch, Regent Park and Scarborough, and we
would like to serve all such schools. CONTACT US
IF YOU WOULD LIKE KIDS.NOW AT YOUR SCHOOL!
For
the Community: Towards Prevention of Child Abuse
The kids.now participants learn how to communicate
effectively, resolve conflicts positively, manage
stress and develop their self-confidence by setting
achievable goals. Those skills help them to get
along better with their families and also help
the rest of the family to get along better with
each other, since the kids.now child serves as
both role model and mentor.
In learning the above skills, the participants
come to understand that they can have an important
influence in a conflict, and they develop the confidence
to use their influence.
They also learn that there are situations for
which they must seek help from an adult they can
trust, and that it is important for them to identify
such individuals before problems occur..
Research has shown that starting from around age
12, most kids discuss problems with each other
more than with their parents. Therefore even a
friend or sibling of a kids.now participant could
receive appropriate advice from the participant.
For
the Community: Preparation of Youth for Work
Eight of the 11 employability skills in the Conference
Board of Canada’s Employability Toolkit are
part of the kids.now program.
Our highly trained coaches present a positive
picture of the working life and bring to their
sessions guests from careers in which the kids
are particularly interested.
For
the Community: Safe and Healthy Communities
Participants score points each week for every
hour of non-compulsory physical activity.
They learn to recognize stress and the role that
it plays in addiction and disease, and they learn
immediate and long-term solutions to stress.
Their communication and conflict resolution skills
help them to get along and prevent or defuse conflicts,
and by their example help others to do the same.
For Business and the Economy
We give companies the opportunity to make a
difference in their communities by choosing to
be leaders in corporate responsibility.
Children are the entrepreneurs, employers and
employees of tomorrow. Our kids learn practical
skills that will make them more confident, competent
and able to take a leadership role in any career.
Eight of the 11 employability skills in the
Conference
Board of Canada’s Employability Toolkit
(no password required - just click Cancel) are
part of the kids.now program.
Charles Coffey, Executive Vice President, RBC
Financial, said in a recent speech, “It is
estimated that work-life conflicts cost Canadian
organizations roughly $2.7 billion in lost time
due to work absences.” Our kids will be better
equipped to deal with work-life conflicts, and
our volunteers return to their jobs exhibiting
the well documented effects of volunteering: increase
in morale and decrease in absenteeism and stress
levels.
Our volunteer coaches receive a professional-level
training session in kids.now program delivery and
complimentary communication (Jeff Ansell & Associates)
and emotional intelligence (HayGroup) seminars.
The coaches’ companies benefit from the improved
performance and people skills of their boss, colleague
or employee. Rotman School of Management MBA
candidates from
the University of Toronto, together with CIBC,
have designed an evaluation to measure the positive
impact of being a kids.now coach on the coaches’ professional
and personal development.
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