iF October DIGITAL September-October 2020 | Page 28

Leslee Udwin: And that is through education. There is no other way to do it. I will stand by everything that has been learned and say stop, stop, stop. It has to start in the early years. Heidi PP: I believe in that education as well. But what do you do with the people who are beyond that? It is 40 year olds who are our leaders, who are teaching, who are running our companies, and who are role models for our youth. Leslee Udwin: Here is the problem. We have to start with the playground. We just let the children play. We have to address the violence there. We can’t change a 40 year old. If we think we can, we are lying to ourselves. We could if we had trillions of dollars to force them into therapy. And maybe some of them would make progress. Heidi PP: Like the “Me too” and the Dr. Phil shows. We have never ending talking about the problems. Leslee Udwin: It is better to start at the preschool level. We can prevent the problem. We haven’t even started with prevention yet. 28 iF Magazine |September-October 2020 Heidi PP: So concerning the “Think Equal” program, how does a teacher start to bring that to their students? Leslee Udwin: We offer everything free. We are a non-profit registered in both the UK and the US. Think Equal is a programme based on the belief that the younger you start the better for the child. Just as they learn to hate because of color, religion, or gender, they can be taught to love, which comes more naturally. We designed the programme for ages 3-6. The programme was planned for 30 weeks of the school year. It includes the books and lesson plans for 1.5 hours per week. There are 2 days of training for teachers on the use of the materials and the lesson plans. We provide all the books and instruction materials free. The one aspect of education missing from traditional programmes is Social-Emotional Learning. Our programme has been tested and evaluated by experts in early childhood. A committee of global thought leaders and experts helped in the design of the programme and the materials used in the classroom. Heidi PP: Both the US and the UK have been hit very hard with this global pandemic. Since children are being home-schooled, the parents are going to have to become acquainted with the program for it to be successful. How have you approached that problem? Leslee Udwin: We have designed home kits that the parents and children can use when they are not in a classroom. The kits are being distributed free of charge also. Heidi PP: I am very excited about the program, and I look forward to talking with you again and to working with you when you come to Houston. Heidi PP Editor in Chief- iF Magazine [email protected] Leslee Udwin Founder & CEO-Think Equal thinkequal.org