本企画は、2013‐15年に開発した「仲間同士の支え合いが出来る子供」の育成プログラムについて、その内容・趣旨に関する保護者と地域住民の理解を進め、学校から地域への「相互扶助」の広がりを基礎にした心豊かな社会作りの実現を図ることを目的とする。具体的には保護者・住民を対象に、プログラムの内容である「精神疾患リテラシー」教育と「いじめ対策」教育の内容とともに、両教育プログラムの学習目標のコアである「苦しむ仲間を互いに支え合える子供の育成」の意義を理解するための資料（冊子とそれを補助する視聴覚教材）を作成し、それを活用した保護者・住民向けセミナーを実施することが、本企画の主な実施内容である。また本プログラムの授業は、学校教員が実施する形で開発しており、それを可能とするための教員向け講習会を実施してきたが、この継続実施も行う。これは授業に関する知識とともにプログラムの最終的目標である「支え合い」への理解を深め、保護者・地域住民とともに、子供同士の「支え合い」を応援できるようになることを意図するものである。これらの資料作成、セミナー、講習を通じて、「相互扶助」社会の学校から地域への広がりと定着を図る。

   Aim of the present project is to help school-children's parents and their neighbors understand the "mutual support" program, which is taught to the children at schools by teachers. Via the understanding, the parents and neighbors are expected to help and encourage the children mutually support their peers with difficulties including mental distresses and being bullied. For this aim, we are going to develop teaching materials including a brochure and an audiovisual one for parents and their neighbors. This would help them understand their children's learning and practices of the mutual support. Lectures will be held for parents and neighbors to further understand the children's learning and practices, using and introducing the materials. Lectures for school-teachers to learn how to teach the education program of mutual support to children at schools will also be held.
   The "mutual support" program, which was previously developed by our group of researcher-school teacher collaboration, with a great help of the TOYOTA Foundation, consists of two parts: mental health/illness literacy education and anti-bullying education. Children learn basic knowledge of mental health/illnesses, mechanism of development of bullying, and how they can help their peers as well as themselves when they are suffering the distresses. The program is to be delivered at classes by school teachers who are trained using brochures which we developed. The present development of the teaching materials and lectures using them would help parents'/neighbors' understanding of what children learn through the program, which may promote the children's everyday practice of the mutual support and its prevailing from schools to the communities. This, we believe, would finally lead to the development of warm-hearted, mutual-supporting society in our country.