One major goal of the Humanity Project’s acclaimed Humanity Club program is this: to teach young student leaders how to help their peers understand the value of respect, equality and self-worth. Kids teaching kids.
We now have a new tool to spread their positive message — two new short videos that can be shown in any school anywhere on planet earth, for free. These videos offer key lessons repeated at the beginning of every Humanity Club meeting. One involves a brief deep breathing exercise to relax our students and focus their attention. The other is an affirmation in call-and-response form that reminds our kids of their importance as human beings. Our Humanity Project instructors always repeat the purpose of the deep breathing and the benefits of self-worth … benefits both for themselves and others around them. The concepts and the practical techniques are taught and taught again to stick in young minds. And they do stick.
Over the years we have found these parts of our Humanity Club sessions are not only enjoyed by all our kids. The lessons indeed are remembered and used independent of our program, whether at home, in school or around their towns. We’ve heard stories of children successfully drawing on their lessons when they can’t sleep or during stressful moments. Simple as the teachings are, we find they are wonderfully helpful in connecting with elementary and middle school students in ways that improve their lives.
As a result, we decided to ask some of our Humanity Club members to help us put together shorter, simplified versions of these two program elements, creating two videos they can share with their classmates as well as with students in any school that has access to the internet. The first video walks kids through deep breathing. And in the second video, kids repeat encouraging phrases such as, “I am somebody!”
Please share these links with any parents, educators or kids who may find them helpful. You may be surprised just how helpful they really can be.
