Helping amazing minds thrive
Presented by DECJUBA Foundation and Smiling Mind, Smiling Mind Generation supports children, parents, and school communities to build mental fitness and empower children to overcome life’s challenges.
Introducing the Smiling Mind Generation
Welcome to the Smiling Mind Generation, a social movement aiming to provide every Australian child with proactive mental fitness resources and tools to support lifelong mental health and wellbeing.
Our aim is for the Smiling Mind Generation to become the first generation who collectively have the skills to thrive and look after their mental health and wellbeing.
Led by Smiling Mind’s expertise in preventative mental health, the Smiling Mind Generation has been made possible by our Founding Partner DECJUBA Foundation and together, we’re ensuring Aussie kids are mentally fit and empowered to thrive. We are working to drive down the alarming rates of mental ill-health in Australia.
Smiling Mind is Australia’s leading children’s mental health not-for-profit and the innovators behind Australia’s most trusted mental wellbeing app, of the same name, and DECJUBA Foundation is the philanthropic arm of leading Australian fashion retailer, DECJUBA.
Whether you’re a parent, carer, educator, or a professional supporting children and families, you’ll find a range of resources and tools to help children grow the skills and capabilities known to build mental fitness and support positive mental wellbeing.
Resources for parents and mentors
Are you a child’s parent, carer, sibling, grandparent, or an extended family member?
Explore resources for supporting the children you love and to care for your own wellbeing.
Resources for educators
and teachers
Are you a teacher or someone who works with children in an educational setting?
Explore resources for supporting the children you work with and your own mental fitness.
Resources for health and support professionals
Are you a health or support professional who works with children and family health?
Explore resources for promoting children’s mental fitness and supporting families.
Empowering children with the skills to thrive
Half of all mental health conditions first emerge before the age of 14, and over the past 15 years1, the number of young people experiencing mental ill-health has grown by 50%2 .
These statistics become even more alarming in light of the fact that within Australia’s current mental health system there are minimal preventative mental health initiatives for 5 -12 year olds.
Teaching children the skills to maintain their own mental health in these formative years is essential to empower them to achieve their full potential as a young person and throughout adulthood.
Smiling Mind and DECJUBA Foundation are campaigning for a paradigm shift, where Australians move from focusing largely on responding to mental ill-health, towards proactive mental fitness promotion and practice.generational change in mental health across Australia.
The Smile Station
In partnership with DECJUBA, DECJUBA Foundation and Westfield, we brought the Smiling Mind Generation movement to life with The Smile Station, a critical in-person touch point for our digital initiatives. We travelled across the country, bringing mental fitness skills to minds of all ages and stages, in shopping centres on school holidays. Kids and families loved the fun and interactive activities that opened up important conversations around children’s mental health.
Smiling Mind Mental Fitness Model
Mental fitness is our ability to perform at our best each day, navigate challenges, and support a state of positive mental wellbeing even during challenging times. In practice, mental fitness involves consistently and intentionally developing a collection of mental resources we can draw upon to respond to setbacks, sustain healthy relationships, think clearly and make effective decisions.
In Smiling Mind Mental Fitness Model, these skills fall into five pillars: Live Mindfully, Embrace Flexible Thinking, Grow Connection, Act Purposefully and Recharge Your Body. Learn more about the science behind mental fitness.
The Smiling Mind Generation initiative focuses on children because the ability to develop mental fitness skills early in life can act as a protective factor building and strengthening the foundations for children to mentally thrive. Learn more about the need for change and the current state of children’s mental health in Australia, understand the challenges children and families are facing and why prevention and early intervention is critical.
Learn more about the importance of understanding and practising the key skills to support children’s life-long mental health and wellbeing. It is through the proactive development of mental fitness skills in children that we can create generational change.
The Why | The How | Parents | Teachers | Healthcare Workers | Smiling Mind