Children’s Hospital New Orleans: Where spreading kindness is a culture

Have you noticed that everyday seems to be a national day dedicated to something different? There’s a national Wiggle Your Toes Day, a national Toasted Marshmallow Day, and one of our personal favorites, national Random Acts of Kindness Day. At Children’s Hospital New Orleans, we believe that spreading kindness is one way to develop positive behavior and help fight anxiety and depression in teens and adolescence.

That’s why we’ve kicked off the High 5 Project, a community wide movement to meet the mental health needs of Louisiana’s children. After learning the staggering statistic that shows one in 5 children have a significantly impairing mental disorder, yet less than half get the treatment they need, we decided to act. With our High 5 Project, our mission is to provide specialized care and support kids need to flourish so 5 in 5 can thrive. Increasing awareness and implementing this project starts with today’s theme of kindness.

One way to spread kindness is to make each person you meet feel included. How about actually giving them a high 5 and encouraging them with positive affirmations? The High 5 Project is all about boosting confidence, so let’s aim to help those who are struggling by starting a constructive conversation. Self-esteem plays a big role in behavioral health, and kindness will help develop our youth’s self-esteem and make them feel appreciated. So, let’s make this Monday the first of many days where we spread random acts of kindness to those both big and small.

Visit our High 5 Project page to learn more about how you can get involved in the movement! www.chnola.org/High5