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At-risk youth
often have an unhealthy perception that they are invincible. Obesity, smoking, substance abuse, exposure to AIDS and other
sexually transmitted diseases, and teen suicides are symptoms of a pre-teen and teen population who have made poor or uninformed
choices about healthy life styles.
These classes
introduce the important and often ignored concept of total health by describing five health areas:
- Physical
- Mental
- Emotional
- Social
- Spiritual
The course
uses examples such as AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases, and depression to help students understand the importance
of physical and mental health. Smoking, alcohol, and drug abuse receive special attention, including proven action plans for
stopping these abuses. Using step-by-step worksheets, students are motivated to improve their health.
Improving Self-Esteem
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Positive self-esteem
is a major issue for all youth, but an especially difficult one for at-risk students. Self-esteem is the attitude a person
has about him or herself. Often, hard-to-reach students have learned attitudes of poor self-esteem. Those attitudes have been
reinforced by poor personal choices and environmental circumstances. But attitudes can be unlearned or changed. Improving
Self-Esteem introduces the seven basic building blocks of self-esteem:
- Self-acceptance
- Self-confidence
- Self-respect
- Self-determination
- Self-discipline
- Self-fulfillment
- Sense
of humor
At-risk youth
use specific steps in the Improving Self-Esteem course to improve each of the building blocks and to change
their attitudes of poor self-esteem. | | 
