Organization makes educational videos accessible for teachers

by Gracee Mattiace
KRCGTV -St. Louis

NEW BLOOMFIELD — As kids are learning at home rather than in the classroom, COPE 24 is an organization trying to keep parenting education and child development a priority.

COPE 24 has created documentary style videos that are relatable to kids to help teach them life lessons and talk about difficult topics.

Rene Howitt, founder of COPE 24, said they have made their videos more accessible for teachers to incorporate during their online lessons.

“Using some graphics, testimonials, those sorts of things that kids can understand. If they’re growing up in wonderful homes, they don’t know how big of a problem this is,” Howitt said.

“If they’re growing up in troubled homes they begin to understand they’re not the only ones. This is a big problem and somebody actually does care about this,” she said.

During coronavirus stay at home orders more children are at risk for abuse and neglect.

The Missouri Department of Social Services reported a 50% drop in child abuse and neglect hotline calls on March 30.

They said teachers and child care providers make the largest number of hotline reports and without daily contact with a child, a child’s safety could be impacted.

“What we have done during this pandemic is figure out a way to place our videos online,” Howitt said.

“So that any teacher can use the material that we have. If they’ve already purchased it, they have a way of using it while the kids are learning from home,” she said.

“And if they’ve never been exposed to COPE 24, they can see what we are trying to do and what material that we offer.”

COPE 24 is now working on a new video about a topic called “ACES” which stands for adverse childhood experiences. They hope to release that by the end of the year.

For more information on their videos and how to access them online, visit their website.