Happy Place

In this animated spot, a teenage girl – sitting up on her bed – shares with us how trying and tedious her world has become after being cooped up at home for so long. During that time, her parents have “not been themselves” and her young siblings have become annoying “little creatures.” Her emotions are visually dramatized by her bedroom walls seeming to close in on her. She then shares, “If this sounds like your house, try going someplace new– yourlifeyourvoice.org.” She adds, “It might not get you out of the house, but it could help you find a little more breathing room…” as her walls then relax out again and she engages her little siblings with some happy ticklings.

Mental Health Matters

Visit BOYS TOWN DOT ORG SLASH STRESSED OUT for great self-care tips for parents. You can even download an e-book to guide you and your f

Catch Kids Being Good

Parents.  Did you know we all hold the key to raising confident, caring children? All we have to do is unlock the power of praise. Catching kids being good is at the heart of every parenting strategy you’ll find at boystown.org/parenting.  Whether you’re a parent, grandparent or guardian of a toddler, teen or someone in between, we’ve got parenting guides, articles, videos, quick tips and even live parent talks on Facebook with Boys Town experts.

So, we’re constantly investing in praising children and finding those opportunities.  It really helps them with that self-affirmation and that positive thinking. And then that really reduces their negative behavior.

The answer to discipline is praise.  Isn’t that lovely. 

Who would have thought it!

Visit boystown.org/praise to receive your “10 Ways to Praise” magnet. It’s a great reminder to catch them being good, and that great parenting advice is just a click away! Love Letter

Love Letter

The concept in “Love Letter” is that many teens are depressed and confused by the recent social and political unrest.  They don’t know how they feel --- or if they should “align” with any of the conflicting groups.  The final lesson is that – above all – teens need to trust in, and care about, themselves. 

This spot would utilize a popular ballad called “Love Letter” by the artist Jocelyn. 

The spot utilizes rotoscope animation to offer a striking depiction of teen life in this trying time.  Here, crowds challenge our hero teen (played by Jocelyn herself) as she walks among demonstrators holding signs and chanting.  Back and forth from Jocelyn to crowd scenes – we don’t see or hear specific messages – just the commotion they create. 

We cut away to “live” Jocelyn performing a few emotional phrases of her piece at keyboard and guitar. 

Back to animation, Jocelyn extends a reassuring hand to help a confused teen up from curb, and walks into sunset with her as her song faces out, urging teens to believe in themselves.  

“DREAMS”

Teens are often surrounded by teachers and teen influencers who tell them how “they can achieve whatever they set their minds to achieve.” For teens experiencing depression (a condition one in five go through) these motivational messages only make their depression worse.

In “Dreams” we see a girl who encounters these motivational messages – on social media, in class, and ultimately from a commencement speaker. She confides to camera that she had trouble processing these messages while feeling so gloomy.

She finds supportive, inspiring stories of teens who work through their depression on yourlifeyourvoice. org. And comes to believe that she can indeed achieve her dreams – starting with simply finding herself again. She urges confused teens to take the first step at yourliftyourvoice.org

“TEACH LOVE”

Love and respect are at the core of each parenting strategy from Boys Town.

• Teach me respect.
• Teach me patience.
• Teach me kindness.
• Teach me love.

Visit boystown.org/magnet to receive your “Teach Love” magnet.

Because the change we want to see in our world begins at home, and Boys Town is there to help along the way.

It’s just human nature for us to focus more on the negatives than the positives and to look for things to criticize rather than things to praise. For parents, it’s easy to fall into this habit with our kids. At Boys Town, we strive to encourage parents to praise their children many different ways.

“OUR TIME TOGETHER” This pandemic has brought new meaning to the work/life balance so many parents already struggle to establish. As we all navigate this new normal, Boys Town wants parents to know we are there to listen no matter the need. Filmed entirely by cell phone to adhere to social distancing guidelines, this captures the chaos of life right now while offering reassurance at boystown.org/parenting and 800-448-3000.

“PHONY POSTS”

Teenagers spend a lot of time on social media, talking to friends, posting pictures, and expressing their opinions. Parents need to model appropriate behavior and talk with their kids about what an appropriate online post looks like and sounds like.

Social media has many positives. It allows us to connect in ways we never had before. It helps us further our education and access news quickly.

For more information on social media and other parenting advice, visit boystown.org.

It’s just human nature for us to focus more on the negatives than the positives and to look for things to criticize rather than things to praise. For parents, it’s easy to fall into this habit with our kids. At Boys Town, we strive to encourage parents to praise their children many different ways.

In “More Ways to Praise”, we see several situations of parents praising their kids – on a napkin in their lunch box, sign language, a sign at a volleyball game and memes. It doesn’t matter how a parent praises their child, just that they do it often.

In “One In Five”, we address teen depression and ways to overcome this common problem facing our youth today.

We have just sent the digital files below. These are TV PSAs from Boys Town. Please forward these files to your public service or community affairs director.

Please consider running these important spots in your PSA rotation.

Our campaign entitled “Parenting Isn't Easy” features TV host, Josh Temple, interacting with kids. The result is a humorous insight into the mind of a child in these :60/:30 and :15 second spots encouraging parents to visit www.Boystown.org/parenting to access free resources.

Our latest TV PSA titled: “Me” is inspired by the idea that every person has the strength within them to overcome life’s challenges. For some, that’s difficult to believe when nothing seems to be going right in their life. This PSA includes scenes with a teen sitting alone at lunch, ignored by their peers and feeling overwhelmed with life. We hear the teen’s thoughts filled with angst – before learning that they’ve found the strength to recover their former level of enthusiasm for life. The teen finds someone to “show her the first step…” which is www.YourLifeYourVoice.com – a support website from Boys Town.

Our campaign entitled “Parenting Isn't Easy” features TV host, Josh Temple, interacting with kids. The result is a humorous insight into the mind of a child in these :60/:30 and :15 second spots encouraging parents to visit www.Boystown.org/parenting to access free resources.

Our latest TV PSA titled: “Me” is inspired by the idea that every person has the strength within them to overcome life’s challenges. For some, that’s difficult to believe when nothing seems to be going right in their life. This PSA includes scenes with a teen sitting alone at lunch, ignored by their peers and feeling overwhelmed with life. We hear the teen’s thoughts filled with angst – before learning that they’ve found the strength to recover their former level of enthusiasm for life. The teen finds someone to “show her the first step…” which is www.YourLifeYourVoice.com – a support website from Boys Town.

Our latest TV PSA titled: “Point/Counterpoint” is inspired by the notion that every “story” has two sides: We see and hear parents who are feeling angst over their depressed teen. They watch her retreat from them, spending evenings alone in her bedroom, not eating with them. The PSA includes scenes with her sitting alone, walking, petting her dog. We hear her thoughts juxtaposed with her parents’ comments – before learning that she’s found the strength to recover her former level of enthusiasm for life. She finds someone to “show her the first step…” which is www.YourLifeYourVoice.com – a support website from Boys Town.

Parents

In addition to this teen campaign, Boys Town is releasing a second campaign targeting parents and their free parenting content. Television host, Josh Temple, asks kids of all ages to answer your most burning parenting questions. The result is a humorous insight into the mind of a child in these clever :60/:30 and :15 second spots encouraging parents to visit http://www.Boystown.org/parenting to access our free resources