FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Youth Enrichment Brands Launches the Generation Real Project with a Consortium of Youth Organizations Serving Millions of Kids
A New Campaign and Manifesto from Youth Enrichment Brands CEO Rob Price Calls on Parents, Educators, and Policymakers to Rebuild Real-World Childhood
SAN RAFAEL, CA – Youth Enrichment Brands, the parent company of School of Rock, i9 Sports, SafeSplash Swim Schools, and US Sports Camps, today announces the launch of the Generation Real Project, an initiative dedicated to combating the current youth mental health crisis by rebuilding the real-world experiences, environments, and communities that build the essential infrastructure of a healthy childhood full of confidence, resilience, and joy.
Joining Youth Enrichment Brands as members of the Generation Real Consortium are Tutu School, KidStrong, Apex Leadership Co., and Avid4 Adventure. Together, they reach well over a million children annually across the United States and internationally.
The initiative launches alongside the publication of Reclaiming Childhood in the Digital Age: A Manifesto for Real-World Development by Youth Enrichment Brands CEO Rob Price, available now at youthenrichmentbrands.com/manifesto. Price highlights the complexity of children growing up at the intersection of two powerful forces. The first is technology engineered to maximize attention at the expense of development. The second is a cultural pressure to measure their worth by performance and achievement. It calls on parents, educators, and policymakers to rebuild what has been lost, including the programs, practices, and facilities that help children develop the life skills that no device can teach.
“Parents know the problem,” said Rob Price, CEO of Youth Enrichment Brands. “They feel it at the dinner table every night. The Generation Real Project harnesses the passions of organizations committed to helping parents navigate an ever-more complex environment for raising kids. We will fight for real policy changes, provide real tools, and share best practices across our transformational programs.”
Anchoring the initiative in clinical and research credibility, Youth Enrichment Brands has partnered with two of the most respected voices in child development: Erica Komisar, LCSW, and Jennifer B. Wallace.
Erica Komisar, psychoanalyst, parenting expert, and author of Being There and Chicken Little: The Sky Isn't Falling, brings decades of clinical expertise in childhood emotional development, attachment, and the consequences of modern screen culture. A frequent media contributor, she focuses on how the current environment impacts kids' mental health and what families can do about it.
“We have to give children back the childhood modern society has stolen from them,” said Erica Komisar, LCSW. “The ability to play and be carefree, to learn without the intense pressure of high achievement and face-to-face engagement with their peers is critical to their mental health and development.”
Jennifer B. Wallace, award-winning journalist and author of Never Enough and Mattering, stresses that kids knowing they are valued for who they are, not just for what they achieve, is a key driver of their well-being. Her work on achievement culture and family dynamics makes her a sought-after voice for parents navigating an increasingly competitive world.
“Too many children are under tremendous pressure to achieve in all areas of their young lives. Our role as trusted adults is to buffer them against excessive pressure and instill in them the belief that they matter for who they are, deep inside, away from their performance,” said Jennifer B. Wallace. “It’s a message that can feel countercultural in our modern achievement culture, but it’s a critical one for raising healthy, resilient children.”
Together, Komisar and Wallace will co-author The Generation Real Playbook, a practical, judgment-free resource for parents launching in time for back-to-school season. The Playbook offers families evidence-based, action-first guidance for reclaiming real-world childhood, not by restricting screens, but by setting boundaries and replacing what screens have displaced. The Playbook will be distributed free to families across the entire Youth Enrichment Brands and Generation Real Consortium network.
The Generation Real Project is a commitment to infrastructure that includes concrete resources, programs, and shared standards for families to use. Starting this summer, Youth Enrichment Brands will launch the Generation Real Playbook alongside an expert-led webinar series featuring Erica Komisar and Jennifer B. Wallace, as well as a content series of quick tips, activities, and self-awareness check-ins for families across its social and email networks.
Youth Enrichment Brands anchors the Generation Real Consortium through its four mission-driven brands: School of Rock, the global leader in performance-based music education; i9 Sports, the nation's largest multi-sport youth leagues provider; SafeSplash Swim School, a network of over 200 swim schools promoting a lifetime of water safety and opportunity; and US Sports Camps, the official provider of Nike Sports Camps.
Other members of the Generation Real Consortium include:
Tutu School, a boutique early childhood ballet franchise with locations across the U.S., Canada, and the UK, serving children ages 6 months to 8 years. Built on a joy-first philosophy, their unique approach blends imaginative storytelling, creative movement, and classical ballet to nurture confidence, creativity, and a lifelong love of movement.
KidStrong, a child development training platform that blends physical activity, cognitive development, and character-building into structured programs designed to build confidence and life skills.
Apex Leadership Co., a school-based franchise that combines fitness events and a leadership curriculum to deliver meaningful outcomes for partner schools, building character and community simultaneously.
Avid4 Adventure, a youth outdoor adventure company offering screen-free camps and expeditions in climbing, biking, paddling, and hiking; reconnecting kids to nature and building resilience through real-world challenges.
Follow the Generation Real Project at https://substack.com/@generationreal.
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About Youth Enrichment Brands
Youth Enrichment Brands is the nation's leading youth activities platform. Its mission is to help every kid discover and develop lifelong passions by connecting and serving a network of companies that deliver best-in-class youth camps, music education, swim classes, and sports leagues. Youth Enrichment Brands comprises US Sports Camps, the official provider of Nike Sports Camps; School of Rock, the leader in performance-based music education; SafeSplash Swim School, the world's largest operator and franchisor of swim schools; and i9 Sports, the nation's largest multi-provider and franchisor of youth sports leagues.
Through the Play Without Limits Project, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit initiative, Youth Enrichment Brands provides full-tuition scholarships to kids in need, ensuring that access to confidence-building, skill-developing enrichment programs is not limited by economic circumstance. Youth Enrichment Brands is also the founding organization behind the Generation Real Project, a campaign dedicated to rebuilding the real-world experiences, environments, and communities that help kids grow with confidence, resilience, and joy.
To learn more, visit youthenrichmentbrands.com.
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