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As kids head back to school, Smiggle is proudly partnering with Dolly’s Dream to encourage kids to choose kindness again this January and look out for their friends and classmates.
Smiggle has raised over $200,000 since first introducing it’s Choose Kindness products that help raise funds for Dolly’s Dream anti-bullying programs. With back to school the busiest time of the year in Smiggle stores, it’s the ideal time to share information about the support and solutions offered to families by Dolly’s Dream.
Dolly’s Dream is a national anti-bullying organisation dedicated to changing the culture of bullying by providing bullying support programs and resources for families, schools and communities to assist children and young people.
1 in 4 Australian students in grades 4 to 9 report being bullied in person every few weeks. This is a statistic we can change together. Smiggle and Dolly’s Dream believe in the power of kindness, and together we can share kindness far and wide.
According to Kate Everett, Dolly’s mum and co-founder of Dolly’s Dream, kindness campaigns like this are vital, giving parents and caregivers a reason to talk to children in an age-appropriate way about the importance of choosing empathy and kindness, to help stop bullying before it even starts.
Smiggle is calling on its thousands of fans across the country to drop into a Smiggle store and purchase their $3 Choose Kindness Reuse Me Bag (available in store and online).
All proceeds from any Choose Kindness purchase goes directly to fund Dolly’s Dream resources and support programs including their confidential bullying support line, school and community workshops, the free Beacon Cyber Safety App and Bullying Support Hub, all of which offer support and solutions for young people, parents, caregivers and communities to help stop bullying.
Everyone is also invited to get creative to spread kindness with Smiggle’s free Kindness Origami Butterfly activity available in store and online. Fans can then gift their kindness butterfly to a friend or family member or take it to their local Smiggle store where it will be proudly displayed on the Choose Kindness Wall.
Actor and Dolly’s Dream Ambassador, Pia Miranda sees the Choose Kindness initiative as a fun, but important, way to start some hard conversation with the kids.
“As a mum myself, bullying is something I am concerned with, and helping stop this behaviour and providing support to anyone who needs it is something close to my heart,” Pia said. “My advice to parents is to check in with your kids, see how they’re feeling about heading back to school, talk about what’s going on, and use it as your way to stay connected for the rest of the year.”
Dr. Charlotte Keating, Clinical Psychologist and Advisory Board member for Dolly’s Dream, said ‘the beginning of the school year is an ideal time for gently opening up the lines of conversation with your children to encourage trust and confidence.
“A study conducted by the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne revealed that parents’ top three biggest concerns for children’s health in Australia are screen time, bullying and cyberbullying and internet safety. Dolly’s Dream provides practical resources to empower parents and carers with the tools they need to support their child to engage online, and how to respond to bullying,” Dr. Keating added.
The Dolly’s Dream Bullying Support Line is an Australia-wide, confidential telephone and webchat service with qualified counsellors available to help.
The Beacon Cyber Safety App provides families with trustworthy, practical resources to help them confidently navigate their child’s technology use and help address challenging issues such as screen time, gaming and cyberbullying.
The Bullying Support Hub is a free online information hub where the research has been done for you. Read from the most trusted information sources about online safety and bullying. Dolly’s Dream also offer a range of online safety and anti-bullying workshops that can be tailored to students of all ages, as well as parents, teachers and the general community.
For more information about Dolly’s Dream, visit www.dollysdream.org.au
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