Goldie Hawn Says Her Children Are 'Doing Great' as Parents: A 'Domino Effect'

Goldie Hawn has been named one of PEOPLE's Women Changing the World for her non-profit program, MindUp

Goldie Hawn is feeling proud of how her children have raised their own.

The 76-year-old was named one of PEOPLE's Women Changing the World for her non-profit program MindUp, which focuses on children's mental health, and opened up about how her kids — Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, and Wyatt Russell — have implemented some of her own parenting techniques.

Hawn is grandmother to Kate's kids Ryder Robinson, 18, Bingham Hawn Bellamy, 10, and Rani Rose Hudson Fujikawa, 3; Oliver's kids, Bodhi Hawn Hudson, 11, Wilder Brooks Hudson, 14, Rio Hudson, 8; and Wyatt's son, Buddy Prine Russell, whom he welcomed last year.

"My children are really great with their children," Hawn tells PEOPLE. "They've taken MindUP principles and offered them to their kids, and they're doing great."

"So that's the way it works. As a parent, you basically raise your children to raise their children appropriately as well. So that's that domino effect," she adds. "And as parents, we have a tremendous responsibility."

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Oliver Hudson, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Wyatt Russell and Kate Hudson with kids Ryder Robinson, Wilder Hudson, Bodhi Hudson, Rio Hudson and Bingham Bellamy attend Annual Goldie's Love In For Kids hosted by Goldie Hawn
Todd Williamson/Getty Images

Hawn founded MindUp in 2003 while on a break from acting that lasted 15 years. The organization provides curriculums for kids, parents and schools focusing on the mental health and "brain fitness" of children.

She said that though she wasn't able to implement those skills in her own children, she's hoping to be a vocal advocate for parents to teach their kids about mindfulness and mental health care.

"We want our children to have agency over their emotions," Hawn says. "The brain is an amazing thing. And we need to use it like a muscle, and strengthen it."

"Every school should have one mental health program, preventative program, which is what MindUP is, in classrooms everywhere in America," she continues. "There is no question why we can't teach brain science and these kids to have some agency over their own brain by understanding how their brain works."

Goldie Hawn
Goldie Hawn. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Hawn added that because of the mental health struggles children are facing amid the pandemic, she's expanding her MindUp programs across the world, with a presence in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Portugal, and more.

"Today we are facing a new pandemic. And that pandemic is very serious. Serious because it's really, really hurting our children's mental stability, mental health. We have got a lot of work to do now to unwind some of the anxiety, the fear, the panic attacks, all the things that are happening now for children. It's very, very dangerous," Hawn tells PEOPLE.

"So that's my advocacy now. I will go right on until I don't in terms of trying to bring that into all classrooms everywhere," she says.

For more Women Changing the World, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.

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