Meike de Haas (12), the Netherlands

Mental Health

While Kidlink is best known for its work within education and collaboration on the Internet, the international mental health community got involved already in 1991, and above all because of our obligatory four questions:

Who Am I?
What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?
How Do I Want The World To Be Better When I Grow Up?
What Can I Do Now To Make This Happen?

The Department of Preventive Child Health Care at the Medical Faculty, Charles University (Czech Republic) built projects based on Kidlink. A Canadian hospital had mortally sick children "play with peers through Kidlink the last days of their lives." A US-based group used the four questions in their work with school dropouts.
Today, Kidlink operates a number of KHouses in Brazil and Mexico. These are community "telecenters" with our educational contents serving a range of audiences, including:

street kids
kids with the Down syndrome supported by students of medicine
kids with cancer, who are in the process of recovering
indigenous kids (self-esteem)
kids paired with senior citizens (One purpose being to increase the participants' self-esteem)

The kids' responses to the four questions provide a global "children's view" on our time. Their hopes and dreams gives a cross section of children's lives in many countries. Most dream about ecology, peace and equality, hunger and poverty, safety, respect, and love.

Building a model

In 1997, work started to collect our experiences in a more comprehensive model. This model is designed to help kids:

Strengthen their self-esteem
Prepare answers to possible questions asked by new friends
Plan and train for encounters with new friends through the Internet
Organize meetings (acceptance/rejection)
Organize meaningful activities to support and develop new friendships, and personal networks of peers around the world

The result was a multi-lingual educational program called Who-Am-I?. It has 389 suggested questions and 244 proposed activities, but no answers. It has the following agenda:

Who am I?
Where do I live?
What are my rights?
My friends and family
What are my roots?
Virtual vacation (an undangerous "exercise" in the act of being rejected or accepted by others)

Sample question: "What is the most effective method for stopping a fight between two persons?"
The process starts with a face-to-face discussion in a local group, usually without use of computers. When the group has reached some conclusions, they publish these to peers around the world through the Kidlink network for reactions. Subsequently, feedback - or lack of feedback - is discussed and worked on in the group.
The potential resulting online network with peers may become an alternative to a child's local networks. The latter sometimes leads kids into drug abuse, or exert other negative influences.
Sample question from "My friends and family": "What if the friends you hang out with want to do something you don't? What do you choose - go with your friends or do "things" your own way?"
In early 2001, an earthquake hit the Gujarat area of India. Many kids lost their parents. Click here for the story about how Who-Am-I? was introduced to make a difference, both in Gujarat and in other kids' hearts around the world.

Applications within mental health

Who-Am-I? may be used to strengthen individual children who struggles with their lives. It may be used to promote independence, the ability to master their own lives (supported by cultural and spiritual stimulus), and to strengthen their social networks.
The program may be used:

in closed groups in an institution
for an individual kid assisted by an adult tutor
in open clubs
in organized support of schools

Please write Odd de Presno if you want to investigate this further.

http://www.kidlink.org