ReachOut focuses on the power of play in teaching teens positivity.
ReachOut Australia has joined with the Telstra Foundation and Soap Creative to develop an app for secondary schools called ReachOut Orb. ReachOut is an online youth mental health organisation that provides information and professional help on topics including drugs, sex and cyberbullying.
This fun, yet ‘serious’, educational game is designed to teach Year 9 and 10 students how to improve their mental wellbeing through the practice of play.
ReachOut Orb takes children on a journey where they have to reverse a negative force called 'The Glitch', by interacting with a range of characters that are overwhelmed by negativity.
Soap Creative co-founder, Brad Eldridge, says: “Play learning is a great way to develop kids’ imaginations and it’s less prescriptive, allowing them to interpret the experience in ways that are meaningful to them.”
Teachers are provided with free curriculum‐mapped resources developed by positive psychology experts to support the lessons in ReachOut Orb. The game initially went through a pilot program at four high schools and the results were positive.
National ReachOut schools manager, Jackie McIver, says the app will help students understand and develop wellbeing skills.
“Collaborating with Soap and watching the world of ReachOut Orb come to life has been a really rewarding process,” McIver adds.
ReachOut Orb is available for free on iPad here. or desktop at ReachOut.com/Orb . Principals and teachers can download teacher resources at ReachOut.com/Orb.
