Parents
What is Friends for Life? 
FRIENDS is the world’s leading RESILIENCE programme which helps young people cope with anxiety and builds their resilience to manage worry and depression both now and in later life. Developed in Australia and now adapted for New Zealand, it is the only programme of its type acknowledged by the World Health Organization for its 12 years of comprehensive evaluation and practice.
Internationally hundreds of schools are using the programme.
Revised for New Zealand's culture and school curriculum, FRIENDS for Life remains at the cutting edge of excellence in anxiety prevention and building resilience.
FRIENDS takes only 10 sessions to complete and is run by your school’s regular teachers in normal class times as part of the Health Curriculum. Principals, Deans, Counsellors and other members of the pastoral care team may also use FRIENDS for behaviour management, bullying problems and to aid transition.
The programme promotes self-esteem, problem-solving skills, psychological resilience, self-expression, and building positive relationships with peers and adults. It is a positive, fun learning experience that does not involve any clinical assessment or diagnosis, and avoids labelling children as anxious or different. There is no mention throughout the programme of topics such as depression, suicide, drug abuse, or violence.
Why combat anxiety through schools?
Research has shown that 20% of young people may experience some form of anxiety disorder (typified by an excessive amount of worry about future or past difficulties that interferes with day-to-day activities). These disorders are often difficult to detect and if left unattended may develop over years into adult anxiety disorders or, in some cases, clinical depression leading to thoughts of suicide.
Why worry and depression seem to be an increasingly common feature of our modern society is not yet understood. Perhaps it is the changing nature of work and family and its added burdens on parenting, or the increased and sometimes intrusive nature of the communication revolution. Our newspapers, televisions, and computers supply us with an unending stream of disturbing images and challenging knowledge about world-wide events.
What we do know is that education for emotional health needs to start early. We can no longer rely on a simple, happy and protected childhood spent growing up in a world only as big as our local neighbourhood.
Today’s internet-friendly schools bring ever more information to our young people about how big and complicated the adult world can be. And while being worried about certain things is a normal part of growing up, excessive worry can lead to significant mental distress both in child and teenage years and on into adulthood.
Early intervention and prevention through the school system will help children cope with the worries and stresses of puberty and adolescence, and help prevent the development of thought patterns that ultimately may lead to self-damaging behaviour as criminality, aggression, negativism, alcohol and drug abuse, and in the extreme, suicide.
How do we know FRIENDS works?
FRIENDS for Life is a cognitive behavioural programme designed to combat anxiety and depression by teaching specific life skills.
It is based on a firm psychological model and has been rigorously tested both in Australia and overseas across a range of age groups and ethnic and social backgrounds [for more information on the research go here.
In simple terms this research says that up to 80% of children showing signs of anxiety disorder no longer display that disorder for up to six years after completing the programme (research data is only available up to six years currently - we hope the skills learned will stay with them for life).
For young people who are not clinically anxious, FRIENDS significantly increases their level of self-esteem while reducing their feelings of worry and fear.
What happens in a FRIENDS group?
Teachers guide students through a series of class-based activities designed to teach them how to deal with worrying situations through being prepared, devising self-help strategies, rewarding themselves, and seeking support.
Each session they will be presented with a home-based activity to complete before the next FRIENDS session, and at the end of the programme will be able to keep their FRIENDS workbooks for future reference.
Parents have an opportunity to help their children and learn more about what they are experiencing in the FRIENDS programme by assisting with home activities and using the tools and skills at home with the whole family. Parents can also attend two parent evenings that can be offered by the school.
How can you make sure your child gets access to this programme?
If your school is not currently running the FRIENDS for Life programme at your school there are several ways you can help.
1. Are they aware that this programme is available? If not tell them about it and refer them to our website. They can also contact us to have us talk to them about how the programme can work at their school.
2. Are they aware of the programme but have not implemented it yet? There are often many reasons why a school has not implemented FRIENDS yet. Contact them and ask. We are happy to talk to them about the programme for you as well.
3. There is an initial cost associated with implementing the programme in your school as the teachers need to be trained to deliver it. This will need some planning by the school but can be done through their teachers professional development programme and/or teacher only days. We are happy to discuss options with them.
4. Each student who does the programme requires a workbook that costs $27. Some parents are happy to purchase the workbook, however, others may find the cost prohibitive. We accept donations for workbooks to specific students, schools or communities. For more information about sponsoring a school or donating a workbook contact us.
5. If you are involved in your local school or community at any level we can come out and run a talk for teachers, parents, students and other interested parties. Please contact us to arrange this .
6. If you want your child to do the programme but your school is unable to provide it please contact us and we can refer you to one of our trained facilitators in your area who run groups throughout the year and discuss options with them.
