Join Committee for Children in the All Kids Safe and Well national campaign! Our goal is to advance access to programs and services that build young people’s essential life skills as part of primary prevention and wellness promotion in a full continuum of support. Start Here to Take Action Are you an individual advocate? Click here to join the campaign. You’ll receive campaign-related information and opportunities to take action. Your information will not be shared. Do you represent an interested organization? Click here to join Committee for Children and other organizations in this national campaign to advance young people’s access to primary prevention. What Are Life Skills? Life skills are personal and interpersonal skills that children first learn at home from their parents and caregivers. Life skills include relationship-building, coping with stress and adversity, navigating emotions, and problem-solving. Life Skills and Primary Prevention Primary prevention is an important part of a continuum of support for children and young people because it provides upstream support that builds protective factors and mitigates risk factors before a crisis can occur. Access to primary prevention includes helping all young people develop life skills, as having these skills is an important part of promoting wellness, safety, and readiness for the future. Helping all young people develop age-appropriate, foundational personal and interpersonal life skills—such as problem-solving, self-discipline, and effective communication—is a critical component of effective primary prevention for many of the pressing challenges they face today. Research- and evidence-based programs and services that build these life skills have been shown to reduce symptoms of externalizing challenges, such as aggression and bullying, as well as reduce symptoms of internalizing challenges, such as anxiety and depression. Building life skills also promotes resilience and well-being and can lead to improved school success and college and career readiness. A vast majority of parents support teaching these skills in schools, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research- and evidence-based primary prevention for young people is conducive to promoting safety and well-being in numerous ways: Building skills and protective factors as part of comprehensive youth suicide prevention efforts can manage and mitigate feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, substance use, and child sexual abuse, which can each be a risk factor for youth suicide. Research-based skill-building supports the prevention of substance use, bullying, and child sexual abuse. Primary prevention plays a role in building a safe school climate via violence prevention. Trauma-informed prevention programs and services in schools are an important offering as young people cope with trauma connected to the pandemic and recent violent events in schools and communities. Actions You Can Take Now Write a Letter Click here to send a short message to your state and federal lawmakers telling them why prioritizing access to life skills as part of primary prevention matters for young people’s safety and well-being. This action takes two minutes or less. Take Action Speak Up on Social Media Use this toolkit to post on social media about why primary prevention matters. Take Action Share the Research Share this one pager on why building essential life skills is an important part of supporting young people upstream within a full continuum of care. Learn More Get Informed Read this letter to Congress regarding federal efforts to support young people’s safety and well-being to see which organizations support young people’s access to primary prevention. Learn More Partner Organizations The following partner organizations support young people’s access to research- and evidence-based primary prevention in school settings that includes building age-appropriate, foundational life skills—such as building confidence, self-discipline, and effective communication—as a component of a full continuum of care. To support children and youth through what has been a particularly challenging time, we strongly encourage prioritizing access to primary prevention for all young people across a full continuum of support in efforts that address young people’s safety and well-being. Questions? Please reach out to the Committee for Children Policy and Advocacy Team to ask questions or connect about the campaign and related issues. Contact Us
What Are Life Skills? Life skills are personal and interpersonal skills that children first learn at home from their parents and caregivers. Life skills include relationship-building, coping with stress and adversity, navigating emotions, and problem-solving.