A nonprofit in Bristol has created a youth program that aims to help teenagers struggling with anxiety and depression.
Derek Jones and Kelly Houston from DK Movement Cares, Inc. said the program aims to empower teens and give them the tools to handle everyday stressors.
“We just want kids to get interactive, we want kids to get off their phone for a little bit, we want kids to feel good about themselves,” Jones said. “It’s going to attack the root cause. The root cause is where kids don’t feel good about themselves so that’s why they’re lashing out, maybe they’re feeling bullied."
They’ve been working on the program for months, they said, but recently ramped up efforts to get it into schools following an uptick in threats.
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A school threat last Friday closed all public schools in Bristol. Another was recently reported in New Britain.
“We live in Bristol and it happened in Bristol. When is it gonna be actually something that’s real? We don’t want it to get to that point,” Houston said.
The 10-week program is classroom-based for a few hours, Jones said, but also includes exercise and community outreach projects.
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According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 32% of teens in the United States between the ages of 13 and 18 have an anxiety disorder. That’s the age group Jones and Houston said they’re targeting.
“The program is gonna be broken down to goal setting, they’re gonna have some communication skills, team building stuff they’re gonna have to do within the classroom, and then they’re gonna have a community project,” Jones said.
He and Houston are both recovering alcoholics who had rough upbringings. He said their backgrounds, and how they persevered, make them relatable and will hopefully get teens to share their struggles.
“We can clearly understand where they’re coming from because we lived through that,” Houston said.
“People don’t know how to deal with their emotions, so they’re struggling at this point in time. How do you communicate? How do you talk about it? Who do you turn to? A lot of these kids don’t want to turn to their teachers as much, they don’t want to turn to their parents, so we need to bridge that gap,” Jones said.
The pair presented their proposal to the Bristol Board of Education recently, they said, and hope to have it implemented in schools in the future.
