About two years ago I noticed a bit of a shift in my household. My kids were spending a bit more time in their rooms, a lot more time on their phones and less time engaging in actual conversations with me and my husband. At first I figured, kids will be kids and this too shall pass, but as time went on I slowly realized things weren’t getting any better and in fact they were getting worse. Enter Invisible Crowns… what first started off as an experiment with my own children morphed into a school program that has now been taught in various schools in both York Region and the GTA.

The program was initially conceived out of frustration with my own kids’ overconsumption of social media, particularly Instagram and Snap Chat. I saw how much time it was taking up in their lives and decided to devise a way to help them to be more mindful of social media pitfalls rather than ban them from it altogether.

So what is Invisible Crowns? Well, in a nutshell it’s a five week program for students that focuses on self-mastery, self-empowerment and building self confidence.

The first program– simply called Invisible Crowns, is a physical fitness, nutrition and mental health program designed to empower youth about becoming more physically active, self-confident and socially aware. The program is geared towards girls and boys ages 13-16 and focuses on fostering self-esteem and self-confidence through interactive storytelling, open discussions and fun physical fitness activities. A large portion of the program deals with understanding and examining the role that broadcast, digital/social, outdoor and print media play in the lives of both teens and preteens, by analyzing media images of great relevance to kids of this age group.

The secondary program entitled– Invisible Crowns: Accessing Our Insight, focuses on helping our youth cope with the constant distractions and over-stimulation of everyday life (ex. social media). Accessing Our Insight is a 5 session program where students are shown how to turn their attention inward in an effort to soothe anxiety and increase well-being. Some of the topics explored include: meditation and mindfulness, self-mastery, the art of surrendering, personal growth through hardship and gratitude and purpose.

As parents we have to face the fact that social media is here to stay. The more resistant we are, the more the our kids seem to be drawn to it. The answer isn’t to ban or shun it. Instead we need to arm our kids will tools on how to successfully navigate through the images that they see and part of that is implementing these strategies into our school system.

***If you’re interested in having our Invisible Crowns Program at your school send us a message at repetitionsfitness.ca **