Bridging The Cultural Divide

Improving the way people parent might seem an impossible challenge, given the competing views about what constitutes good parenting - can we influence a behavior that is rooted in upbringing and culture, affected by stress, and occurs mainly in private? Triple P – Positive Parenting Program works to educate parents on how to improve their parenting skills.

In the wake of high-profile shootings, proposals such as banning assault weapons gain momentum. But there are solutions few national politicians are looking at that take a very different tack.

For many youth in India, illegal drugs are readily available, but rehab is socially stigmatized, government resources and information for narcotics are sparse, and there are few options for a user looking to get clean. A group of people in recovery in Sikkim has formed a football team as a means to recover, finding social support and exercise that is proven to aid in sustainable rehabilitation from drug use.

Peer to peer programs have existed since the 1980s. These programs pair up a person with mental health illness, with one another. The concept, is relatively new in the prison systems, and is gaining traction in states like Pennsylvania.

Some urban planners argue that urban spaces should be designed around children because that makes a livable, walkable space for everyone, and also contributes to healthy early brain development. Several initiatives are underway in and around Johannesburg, South Africa to redesign public spaces and make them more welcoming. At least one community group is working with children, teenagers and people who work with children to identify places that could be improved for better child protection.

Non-violent offenders arrested during mental health episodes in Davidson County are sent to Mental Health Court rather than criminal court. Through this court, they are connected to safety net services such as housing, medication assistance, and therapy.

A school in Tel Aviv welcomes immigrant and refugee children with open arms, providing language classes, long school days, extracurricular activities, and more. Members of the community volunteer to tutor and lead after-school courses, allowing children to learn while their parents work late. Now, more schools are popping up in Tel Aviv with similar aspirations.

In India, the construction industry is the second largest employer. Without the ability to pay for child care, mothers are often forced to bring young children to construction sites. Mobile Crèches has started to set up child care facilities on-site, providing relief to parents and a safe education for students.

In several small rural towns in Texas, mental health professionals from Texas Tech are offering telemedicine counseling to make up for a lack of counselors available in local middle and high schools. The Governor's office has now asked the successful school districts to develop a training program for teachers in other Texas districts in order to scale the model.

More than half of the almost 70 million people who have migrated across borders or been forcibly displaced are children. The Lego Foundation and Sesame Workshop are teaming up with organizations in the countries surrounding Syria to offer play-based learning programs that teach resilience and respect of differences for refugee children six years old and younger.