A new program is aimed at addressing mental and emotional instability among Indiana students.
Youth advocates hope the program could also reduce teacher turnover.
The Resilience Project launched in September and helps teachers recognize student behavioral patterns that could have a negative impact on the classroom.
Using the curriculum, students are able to track how they feel and better manage their emotions.
Liz Coit is the president of the Marion County Commission on Youth, which is piloting the program. Coit said that when children are emotionally stable, it is easier to teach them.
“The teachers are seeing improvements in the children's ability to self-regulate and to sort of hit pause before reacting," Coit said.
Coit said giving teachers and students the tools to handle emotions has already led to benefits in the classroom.
“They're seeing their whole classroom sort of level out, right?” Coit said. “They're getting less spikes of emotion, less outbreaks, because I've now given these kids the ability to communicate with me, and I've given the teachers the ability to respond in appropriate ways.”
The Resilience Project is currently active in Warren Township for second and third graders and Pike Township for sixth-grade students. Coit said she wants the program to expand to all school districts in Indiana.
Contact WFYI digital producer and reporter Timoria Cunningham at tcunningham@wfyi.org.
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