Simple and Effective Tips for Supporting your Child During Covid-19

As a parent myself and working with families in the public sector, I often think about how we can collectively support our children during these times of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is an increasing amount of literature surrounding this topic, especially with the growing understanding that childrens’ mental health is negatively impacted by changes to their social life, cancelled extra curricular activities, and frequently adjusted modes of learning.

For this article, I wanted to focus on two positive, simple, and effective ways to support your child(ren): 1. Being present and listening, and 2. Managing the messaging that your child consumes. These brief pointers can help make a positive impact in your household. 

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DIY Book Club: The Truth About Stories

By: Becca Shortt

As a non-Indigenous person with many years of experience working with Indigenous communities and researching Indigenous engagement, I am often asked by other non-Indigenous people for resources: “Where can I start?” In preparation for this inevitable question, I have pages and pages of articles, social media accounts, T.V. shows, movies, artists, etc. to share. But I often wonder what people do with the resources I share, how are they engaging with them, what impacted them, and what are they going to do now that they’ve consumed that knowledge. So, I want to focus on one book right now, dig into the reasons I chose it for my colleagues, and invite others to use the provided agenda to organize their own book club with their friends and colleagues.  

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Why the word “Indigenizing” makes us uncomfortable

By: Becca Shortt & Alicia Hibbert

It feels like the word Indigenize is surrounding us lately. It is used in workplaces, especially those adjacent to or within post-secondary. It is often used interchangeably with Indigeneity, decolonization, and reconciliation. And it’s a word that always felt uncomfortable to both of us, but we weren’t 100 percent sure why at first. Just that if you put literally any other culture or identity in the world before “-ize,” it sounds horrible. Go ahead, try it. 

So, we explored further.

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Orange Shirt Day 2020

Original version. Edited version was published: Hibbert, A. (2020, September 12). Orange Shirt Day at UBC – September 30. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://hr.ubc.ca/working-ubc/news/september-09-2020/orange-shirt-day-ubc-september-30

My name is Alicia Hibbert, I have a prairie Metis perspective, and I’m a guest living, working, and resting with gratitude on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), and skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish) peoples. Our team is focused on supporting physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing at both the individual and community levels. We believe that wellbeing requires safe, healthy, and supportive environments, including equity and human rights.

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