The Institute for Habits of Mind and EdTech Animation Studio, Wonder Media, Give Away Complimentary Classroom Lessons to Educators to Address 56% Soar in Teen Suicide Rates

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Wonder Media announced a collaboration with The Institute for Habits of Mind to provide U.S. educators with the first complimentary downloads of instructional animations that address suicide prevention measures in early childhood classrooms. The move was inspired by a recent 56% uptick of teen suicides, which the Centers for Disease Control recommends be addressed as early as possible. Two of the "16 Habits of Mind" instructional animations will become available for pre-kindergarten through second-grade educators on December 16, 2019 at 8 am EST and can be found here.  The 16 Habits of Mind has been purchased by 11,000 schools nationwide.

The two Habits of Mind instructional animations are being provided to teach coping, problem-solving skills and promote connectedness: They are titled "Thinking About Your Thinking" and "Listening with Understanding and Empathy."

Because the current need for teen suicide prevention is dire, the collaboration comes on the heels of Wonder Media's production announcement of the animated series titled "My Life is Worth Living," being funded on Indiegogo.

"This is the first time these Habits of Mind lesson plans have been given away," said Wonder Media CEO and former CEO of the studio that incubated The Simpsons, Rugrats and the Wild Thornberrys, Terry Thoren. "For more than 30 years, Dr. Art Costa and Dr. Bena Kallick's Institute for Habits of Mind have provided educators with 16 Habits that instruct how to think, make decisions and cope with stress and fear. As animated stories, these lessons are super-charged based on research that shows children will mimic the behavior of animated characters before they listen to an adult."

"7.4% of youth in grades 9-12 (that's 1.56 million) have reported that they had made at least one suicide attempt in the past 12 months and nearly 1 in 5 high school students said they considered suicide in the previous year," said Dr. Kallick.

About: Wonder Media is an animation production studio in Los Angeles, California producing animated stories to connect with children at risk with content that addresses hunger, emergency preparedness, social-emotional learning, critical thinking, autism, nutrition, children with disabilities and children living in a home with an addicted adult. The studio has produced animated lessons for the Global Institute for Habits of Mind, the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center Foundation, the Betty Ford Children's Center, the Hero in You Foundation, the Gabe Alvarado Foundation, the NALC Food Drive, The Boy Scouts of America, the The Girl Scouts of America and the Wyland Water Foundation. Wonder Media is also the creator of WonderGrove Story Maker®, which turns classrooms into state-of-the-art animation production studios. Research shows that when students use authentic production tools, the experience ignites reading and writing engagement.  Story Maker® is in 172 school districts in 24 states nationwide.

About: The Institute for Habits of Mind is a global organization founded in 1989 by Dr. Bena Kallick and Dr. Arthur L. Costa. The Habits of Mind are dispositions that empower creative and critical thinking to create a more thoughtful, cooperative, compassionate generation of people.

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SOURCE Wonder Media