Can 'snake tag' keep kids from getting lost in Calgary's full schools? These educators think so

At an after-school program in a Calgary elementary school, it isn't obvious young children are being taught to stay safe and out of trouble.

For two hours on a Monday afternoon, these grade 4 to 6 kids do deep breathing exercises. They play games in the gym, pick out books to give to younger kids and write nice messages in them.

There's a deeper purpose to this work: the students are being taught tools to resist negative influences later in life. It's an issue former teacher and principal Lorraine Kinsman says is critical to tackle now, as a huge wave of new students enrol in Calgary's public school system.

"It's not just a sit-and-listen kind of program. As you can see, it has to be actively involved," said Kinsman, director of programs at the Calgary Bridge Foundation for Youth, which runs the Bridges to Community program.

"If you want to teach conflict resolution, put 15 kids together playing soccer. I promise you, in 15 minutes, you'll have four opportunities to teach conflict resolution. That's what we're trying to do, just give them the opportunity to engage."

Since 2021, the Calgary Board of Education has been facing record enrolment with new students from across Canada and beyond. Schools are so full, many are now closed to new students, and others have converted hallways and staff rooms into classrooms.

Kinsman is worried. Research shows that without forming positive relationships and a sense of belonging, children can be vulnerable to a range of negative peer influence down the road — from skipping school to criminal activity.

As concerned parents and educators wonder if schools will be able to keep up and provide all these new students with the personal attention they need, this new outreach program for any child who needs it is the foundation's attempt to help.

Hieu Ngo, an associate professor of social work at the University of Calgary, said from his experience working with kids, early prevention programs like this go a long way and can save a lot of money long-term.

"When we don't invest in programs like this, we end up paying much more later on — especially when young people get lost in the community, not feeling a sense of connection, not having resilience and confidence about who they are," said Ngo.

Bridges to Community launched last fall across four elementary schools. Over a six-week period, Kinsman and other facilitators try to teach kids resiliency and self-worth. It's funded by a $100,000 grant from the United Way that will allow the foundation to run the program across 12 schools, working with up to 600 kids in Calgary.

Making good choices … during snake tag

It's four o'clock and a dozen kids are slithering like snakes across the polished gym floor.

Others giggle and scream as they run away. The rules of the game say if you're tagged by a snake, you turn into one. The last one standing wins.

Each child faces choices constantly: stay inside the lines or jump out, admit to a tag or start an argument.

On the surface, it's a good outlet for the kids' energy after a long day. But deeper down, the children are learning how to regulate their emotions and make good decisions — critical skills needed to be part of a team and feel like they belong.

The program's main focus is helping newcomer youth, since the foundation's mandate is to support immigrant and refugee students. But unlike most of the organization's other programs, all kids are welcome to join.

In this particular class that CBC Calgary was invited to, roughly 60 per cent of the students arrived in Canada in the past two years. Many others are Canadian born.

Each of the students signed up for different reasons. Some had teachers suggest they join; others signed up on their own. One of the girls in the group told CBC she decided to join because she knows sometimes she acts really silly at the wrong times and places. Another student, a boy, said he was interested in building teamwork skills because some of the kids on his soccer teams don't work together and that's how fights start.

Back in the classroom, project co-ordinator Stephanie Pastro leads an activity that relates to this week's theme: altruism. She encourages each student to pick out one book to give to a younger student and write a nice note in it.

"I hope you like this book because I know I did. Even though I don't know who you are, I have a feeling that you are very nice and have a kind heart," wrote one of the boys in the program.

Pastro said she's impressed by how self-aware the children are, even as young as eight years old.

So she integrated mindfulness into the curriculum. Mindfulness is the practice of being present in the moment and has been found to increase optimism, reduce stress and even improve math skills in elementary-aged children.

At the start and end of each session, Pastro tells the students to sit comfortably and close their eyes if they'd like to. Using a handheld brass sound bowl, she rings a bell and tells them to breathe in for five seconds, then breathe out for five seconds. They do that three times in a row. Some kids giggle through the breaths; others stay focused on the task. The room is quieter when the exercise is over.

"What happens in that room for just those two hours is meaningful and it does make an impact. And although that's kind of daunting, it's also such an opportunity. When you see the progress, the growth, that makes it completely worth it," said Pastro.

Of course, the real measure of success is if these children continue to strengthen their relationships and thrive long after this program gives them the step up. And that will be difficult to measure.

Pastro said they're working with school principals to see if the skills the kids picked up will stick, and they're using the feedback to adjust future programs. Kinsman said they're hoping the program can eventually be longer than six weeks.

Other organizations have also flagged concerns about the support available, especially for youth facing the challenge of adapting to life in a new country. 

Many community non-profits connected to specific ethnocultural groups also run programs aimed at helping children feel like they belong. They run programs outside of the school system, playing basketball, soccer and dancing in community halls and gyms across the city. 

But it's always difficult to prove the success of preventative programs like these, said Noel Bahliby, director of youth services at the Centre for Newcomers, which runs a program specifically for older youth at risk of being recruited into gangs. It's called Real ME.

The inability to measure success makes it challenging for these programs to get funding, and right now the need is outstripping supply, he said. He's worried that means some kids won't get the help they need and drift into trouble.

"What exists at this moment wasn't designed for the amount of people arriving right now. I think that's really the sticking point. No matter who you talk to, no matter what strategies we run, what programming we run, it's just a numbers game at this point."

But Kinsman said they'll stick with it and keep trying to find the programs that will make a difference for these kids in school.

"If it doesn't work the first two or three times, we'll keep coming back at it because this is about belonging. You never give up on belonging."