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Coach Ryan Day and his wife Nina — champions for The Kids Mental Health Foundation — stress the importance of grown-ups helping the kids in their lives boost their mental wellness skills so they are ready to face life’s challenges, such as adjusting to a new school, getting cut from a sports team, struggling with school work or making friends, or facing other setbacks or disappointments.
Children are not born with these mental wellness skills, so they need support from their parents, teachers and coaches to learn, practice and implement those skills. A new national survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of The Kids Mental Health Foundation asked more than 1,000 parents across the United States how their kids react to a setback or disappointment. While 51% of parents say their child eventually talks it out and tries again, 15% reveal their child gets frustrated and shuts down, and 3% say their kid gives up or quits.
“Being a coach, seeing the impact that things especially at a young age can have as they go through middle school, their teenage years, and then into college,” said Ryan Day. “Let’s get out in front of this. I think at the end of the day we have a responsibility to young people to help them with their mental health, especially at a time when there’s a lot of things going on.”
The Day family has been impacted not only by the high-stress world of collegiate athletics, but also by the long-term effects of losing a family member to suicide. That’s why they collaborated with The Kids Mental Health Foundation to create the free Day Time Break program. It was designed to help middle school students boost their mental well-being, and it has already reached more than 200,000 students. Now, through their continued support, The Kids Mental Health Foundation has expanded the mental wellness program to high school students and has created a physical kit with resources for middle school educators to implement in the classroom.
“We are so grateful to be able to reach even more students across the country with free, evidence-informed resources through the generous support of Ryan and Nina Day,” said Ariana Hoet, PhD, executive clinical director of The Kids Mental Health Foundation and a pediatric psychologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “The activities in the Day Time Break Kit will help students learn about mental health and self-care strategies that might help during stressful times.”
In 2019, the Days established The Christina and Ryan Day Fund for Pediatric and Adolescent Mental Wellness at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the founder of The Kids Mental Health Foundation, to expand their advocacy to children’s mental health.
“I think a lot of our children know how to take care of themselves physically,” said Nina Day. “They drink water, get sleep and sometimes eat their broccoli, but they don’t know how to help their mental wellness. Ryan and I are trying to help out with the Day Time Break program.”
The Day Time Break program is the cornerstone of their work with The Kids Mental Health Foundation.
“Once you get the conversation going about mental health, it’s just amazing where it can go,” said Ryan Day. “It’s been humbling to realize how many people we’ve reached, but also when you realize how many more we can reach.”
For more information and free kids’ mental health resources, please visit KidsMentalHealthFoundation.org.
