Helping young people make healthy choices in the 21st century: a free report

It seems to me that in the modern world we face two battles in helping teenagers make healthy choices.  One is the natural disinclination of youngsters to do anything that those older than themselves say.  And the other is the overwhelming pressure from the mass media and commercialisation of childhood that pushes the students and their families towards unhealthy options.

So how do we help young people make healthy choices in these circumstances?

One clear answer is to focus on the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning because of the positive links these skills have to learning and achievement.In short, a student who doesn’t manage his/her emotions well and struggles to face challenges is likely to be a distraction to everyone’s learning and achievement.

Thousands of hours are spent every month managing the emotions of teenagers and helping them to lock into learning. The big question is, how can we help them to manage their emotions better and so reduce the amount of time we have to spend dealing with the consequences of their emotions?

This was one of the many questions which led to the development of a PSHE programme that I have mentioned before called SUMO4Schools. It gives students the tools to stop and reflect on their current ways of managing and gives them tools to manage their emotions and learning in a more effective way.But there is more – and this is what I had not picked up on before. 

Although it is intended to help the students manage their own lives better, a vital side-effect comes with the fact that the course makes the lives of their teachers much better as well.

I was prompted to revisit Sumo particularly because of a new report they have issued on the impact on society and low aspirations called ‘How society and family impact aspirations and achievement’ which is available free of charge and without obligation from secondary@sumo4schools.co.uk (which is also the address for general enquiries about SUMO).If you have any questions you can call SUMO on 07590055336, and if you would like to find out more about SUMO and how you could use it in your PSHE or SEAL lessons please click here http://www.sumo4schools.co.uk/s4s_sec_benprog.php

Or for information on the project in general there is more on www.sumo4schools.co.uk

Tony Attwood