How many headlines about high school violence before we pull our heads out of the sand and see beyond rationalizations:
It-won’t-happen-here.
We-teach-our-kids-character.
We have character posters and give rewards for good deeds.
We have police on campus.
High school shootings, bullying, and gangs come from an unfulfilled, innate need for community and significance in life’s relationships. Effective prevention should address fulfilling that unmet need. Definition drills and “don’t do this" lists are shallow attempts at character education. Memorization or “right" answers do not compare to achieving better everyday behaviors that create community and confirm significance of the individual. StrengthBank® For High Schools - A Relationship Skills Initiative focuses teens to the plan for each one that will not harm, that will prosper and bring hope and a future. With a clear view of hope, non violent behaviors rise up to effectively supplant the violent.
VIOLENT BEHAVIORS ARE NOT DETERRED unless the individual personalizes relationship skills effectively. Violent behavior ultimately comes from not knowing how to handle the relationships in life, particularly when circumstances create uncomfortable pressures (grades, peers, tests, easy access to misconduct). Investigate the reasons behind each high school or workplace violent act as it is reported; in the text for each one will be a relationship skill problem, for example, love triangle, nonacceptance by peers, loneliness, preoccupation with dark, violent thoughts, lack of positive mentoring/parenting, false perceptions about one’s life position, or a perceived “threat."
JUST BECAUSE HIGH SCHOOL TEENS HAVE MATURE BODIES does not mean they have mature spirits (relational skills). The spiritual component is still being refined during the teen years. But, we mistakenly assume adult-looking bodies have spiritually mature minds. Society is in gross error to think a youth can positively mentor himself/herself. Gee, I wonder if those adults perpetrating workplace violence are the same teens we decided were grown up and did not need to be “mentored" any more. You remember, teens who looked full grown and beyond fixing by the time they reached high school.
Ya think?!
THE CHOICE EACH OF US HAS TO MAKE IN ORDER to mature (become spiritually whole) or remain immature (spiritually incomplete) begins at puberty. The evidence of the choice we made shows up in high school and later in the workplace. At any intervention point the possibility to live maturely rather than immaturely can happen; people with the right information can change.
StrengthBank® For High Schools uses the metaphor “living with the lights turned on or off." In the light we can connect, relate, converse. With “the turned lights off," fear and the darkness itself prevents good connections and promotes a false sense of threat that inevitably erupts in some sort of violent survival behavior.
WORKPLACE VIOLENCE STARTED IN HIGH SCHOOL. High school, then, is an important intervention point for consistent group mentoring by other than high school faculty - groups rather than one-to-one counseling that teens tend to view negatively as therapy. StrengthBank® Talk Groups work like real life, that is, in regular connection to other human beings of all different ages: examples - corporate and community teams and committees. Teens are ready to experience the truth that life does not work only one-on-one and solely within one’s own age group.
THE OPPORTUNITY TO MENTOR high school teens during the confines of the high school day comes in the form of advisory periods - small, mixed grade level groups that occur regularly much like was once officially called “home rooms." These groups meet consistently throughout the high school years. Given the specific StrengthBank® for High Schools mentoring strategies, mentors and the teens discover and confirm the plan for each life that will not harm, that will prosper and give hope and a future thereby providing input for the greater good of the entire community. Business and community leaders coming in about twice a month provide perfect opportunities to prevent violent thinking that leads to violent behaviors in teen. The StrengthBank® Talk Groups allow mentors a previously unavailable stake in the community’s future. Volunteer mentors can now take part in keeping the headlines about high school activities positive.
ABERRANT BEHAVIORS CONTINUE TO EMERGE IN HIGH SCHOOL TEENS LEFT TO THEIR OWN DEVICES. Unfortunately the consequence of unmentored youth occurs in any high school population. Incidences of violence can be seen from the so-called at-risk learners, the underachievers, the learning disabled, and even the “gifted and talented." Therefore, StrengthBank Inc. considers every child “at-risk" who is without sustaining hope, without each one’s StrengthBank® discovery.
In case you are thinking that counselors are given the time and opportunity to counsel each student, ask your local counselor about his or her case load and everyday primary activities.
THE MISSING LINK IN HIGH SCHOOL CHARACTER EDUCATION is the wise, personal, unique engagement for building positive, lasting relationships. Since strong, specific relationship skills are missing for many adults who would mentor, what do we do? First, teach the mentors! StrengthBank® for High Schools - A Relationship Skills Initiative is a community involvement initiative that teaches corporate professional growth seminars to volunteers so that each can specifically mentor high school youth. In the process not only high school futures are brighter but also workplace productivity benefits. There is a high possibility that we can all find our path back to predominantly safe and drug-free high schools and non-violent workplaces.
HIGH SCHOOL SPIRIT is about winning young hearts to the possibilities of a hope-filled future, that is, about living with “the lights turned on." Be a part of keeping “the lights turned on" in our high schools!
1. VOLUNTEER to be a StrengthBank® Mentor.
2. BRING IT! Be instrumental in bringing StrengthBank® For High Schools - A Relationship Skills Initiative to your high school students.
2. CHALLENGE your local high school to understand that lessons and posters about character traits are not the strongest way to develop character. Each youth discovering his or her StrengthBank® from the inside out is the methodology that shows up in positive relationship skills that survive no matter what the circumstance.
Lift up high school youth to a higher plane that results in better headlines. Don’t take our word for what this initiative achieves, go online and view the Video Resume that includes StrengthBank® Mentors, Kids, and Teacher testimonials. www.talkgroups-mentors.org
Sandra Shelton, BA, MEd., CTACC, Fort Worth, Texas, is an engaging international speaker, author, workplace relationship consultant, and nonprofit CEO. StrengthBank® - Communication WorkOuts™ are brilliant in their simplicity and powerful in their effectiveness. They are now being applied to business people who mentor in local high schools during advisory periods. To learn more about StrengthBank® and its author www.strengthbank.com or www.talkgroups-mentors.org
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
