Tilly's Fighting 'Terrible Crisis' Among Teens During Pandemic

REDONDO BEACH, CA — You know Tilly's for selling summer styles and even back-to-school shopping, but this summer and fall are unlike any season yet for most California teens.

Since the pandemic, most of what we do is not the same. How we live and interact or socialize, especially for teens, has changed. Information about the virus and health guidelines are evolving—and sometimes teens get overlooked.

Tilly’s Life Center is a nonprofit education program founded by the clothing brand that works with teens to combat current challenges. The group was offering these courses before the pandemic, but they found it's now needed more than ever.

Through the free virtual workshops teens learn about stress management, mindfulness and how to cope with anxiety. Courses cover facing pressure to understanding who they are and promoting healthy habits with confidence. These workshops teach teens to how deal with stress, anxiety, negativity, isolation and fear in a healthy, productive way.

Young people need this type of support, Tilly Levine, founder and president of Tilly’s Life Center, told Patch.

"It’s important anytime to reach young people," Levine said. "From age 13 to 28, this is the emotional development of the brain. And, kids don’t have a lot of opportunity to get tools that support their emotional development. They get a lot of things that support the mind and intellectual, and some physical."

Not only are we facing the pandemic and challenges that come with living and working at home, but there's another crisis, she added.

"We really have a terrible crisis with the mental health of our youth," Levine told Patch.

Levine and the nonprofit's work touches on a variety of subjects and was informed by working with teens over the years.

"Anxiety, eating disorder, violence, suicide, bullying—you name it," Levine said. "We found that we really need to give attention to this problem we have with our youth. We developed a social and emotional program, giving children tools on how to deal with how to give forgiveness, how to shift to positive energy, build a healthy relationship with yourself and the people around you."

The group is virtual right now and has developed a series of lessons and interactive experiences used by schools and juvenile halls across Los Angeles and Orange counties. Topics include how to communicate, self-acceptance and how to be happy with yourself, how to not become a victim of your circumstances and how to overcome challenges, Levine told Patch.

"Coming up on the pandemic, the mental crisis has just doubled," Levine said. "Some are at home [and have] a lot of stress from parents and all around."

"It’s like three times more important to give them the tools with how to deal with the stress and how not to lose it," Levine said.

In response to the pandemic, the group even changed its format and added new experiences, including art, discussion, sharing and journal writing.

"We worked very hard as soon as this happened and modified our classes the are normally between 16 to 19 minutes," Levine told Patch. "It was a challenge at first, but the response has been good so far."

More teens are getting involved than before the pandemic.

"Since the pandemic we opened to the public and we have classes that kids sign up on their own and they’re in a mixed group with people they don’t know," Levine told Patch. "It’s giving them some kind of sense of belonging and support, an opportunity to vent and get their feelings out there, and feel connected."

That's really important to teens who are living at a time of social distancing when socializing with friends is often a top priority.

"It is very hard because especially for teenagers," Levine said. "Social life is their priority so it’s very tough for them not to be around each other, not to see their boyfriend and girlfriend, it’s a tough situation."

Teens need a chance to vent—and that's regardless of a pandemic or not.

"We’re planning some projects that will be online and it will give them a bigger sense of belonging," Levine said. "The more you do things for others, the better you feel about yourself."

"It’s needed in regular time, too," she added. "The goal is to have this be part of the curriculum, the same way students study math or English," she added.

About 100 classes participated in 2019, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Diego county schools. Some after school programs, youth shelters and additional nonprofits have also joined workshops in the past.

"It’s good when we have the continuation and the kids are committed to doing this the entire year," Levine told Patch. "Even if they do one class they get benefits but once they do the work on a weekly basis then they got a lot more benefit and see results in time."

"They get it how? They feel better," Levine told Patch. "They realize, 'Wow, I need to change my thought.'"

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