Keeping Kids Off The Streets

As of 2005, there were 744,000 homeless people in the United States, according to a study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (msnbc.com).   What causes people to become homeless? Dr. Carl Cohen, a professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, suggests that a number of risk factors accumulate over time to create homelessness. Some of those risk factors include:

• age, race, ethnicity
• low income
• disruptive events in youth, such as the death of a parent
• prior imprisonment
• chemical abuse
• psychiatric disorders
• victimization
• poor social support

Many of these risk factors occur during youth. ARISE life skills lessons are a valuable tool for any homelessness prevention program because they attack the problem on multiple fronts. ARISE believes that it’s never too early or too late to help keep these kids off the streets, which is why the ARISE curricula offers life skills material for children from pre-k through the teen years. The ARISE life skills library teaches young people how to manage their anger, build their self esteem, communicate effectively, understand the importance of getting an education,  avoid abusing  drugs and alcohol, stay out of a gang, get and keep a job and reach their highest potential.

But it’s not just the material itself that does the trick. ARISE programs provide structure to any homeless prevention program. They get youth to open up and express themselves through group discussions and activities. Most of the time, young people just want to be heard. A lack of self-worth,  a sense of belonging  and the feeling that someone cares about them often drive  youth to look for that attention and validation in dangerous ways. ARISE also trains people to use its curricula, turning instructors into mentors, always ready to listen, understand and value the opinions of the youth they interact with.

If you arm kids and teens with these basic life skills, you give them the foundation they need to stay off the streets. A person with an education, high self esteem, great communication skills, strong social connections and a body free of drug and alcohol addiction is unlikely to end up as a  statistic.

For more information on how ARISE can help  your homelessness prevention program, visit the ARISE website.

10 Quotes About Attitude, Brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

The world we live in is never black and white. The universe is colored by the way you look at it—attitude determines whether you see just the black cloud, or its silver lining. Attitude isn’t determined by how much money you make, how you were raised, where you live or the people around you. What makes a positive attitude so powerful is its ability to exist independently, and sometimes in spite of, the world around you.

Here are 10 quotes about attitude.

1. “The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.” —Carlos Castaneda
2. “The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” —Frank Lloyd Wright
3. “Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.” —Henry David Thoreau
4. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” —Marcus Aurelius
5. “The greatest part of our happiness depends on our dispositions, not our circumstances.”      —Martha Washington
6. “Everything can be taken from man but the last of human freedoms—the ability to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” —Victor Frankl
7. “The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.” —William James
8. “An optimist is the human personification of Spring.” —Susan J. Bissonette
9. “Sooner or later, those who win are those who think they can.” —Richard Bach
10. “To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

Changing your attitude can be difficult. If you need a little help, try taking an ARISE CHOICES: Drop it at the Door workshop. The CHOICES training teaches you how to let go of anger, resentment and stress, especially in the workplace. The goal of the CHOICES training is to stop the “boomerang” effect of taking work-related stress home, and carrying worry about home issues to work. CHOICES participants learn how to drop stress, anger and negativity “at the door,” improving both their work and home lives.

To sign up for the DIATD training or find out more information about ARISE Foundation’s other programs, visit the ARISE website or call TOLL FREE:  1 (888) 680-6100 .

10 Quotes for Success

Most of these quotes were borrowed from one of the ARISE books in the GET SMART series. Learn more about our Get Smart Series.

1. “I do not wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has to get down to work.” —Pearl Buck, American novelist
2. “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.” —John Lennon
3. “I would rather live one year as a tiger than 10 years as a sheep.” —Madonna
4. “Never look down on anybody unless you are helping them up.” —Jesse Jackson
5. “Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.” —Lin Yu Tang
6. “Be ready when opportunity comes. Luck is the time when preparation and opportunity meet.” —Roy D. Chapin, Jr.
7. “When everyone is looking for gold, it’s a good time to be in the pick and shovel business.” —Mark Twain
8. “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually fear you will make a mistake.” —Elbert Hubbard
9. “I am always doing things I can’t do. That’s how I get to do them.” —Pablo Picasso
10. “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” —Aristotle

Five More Quotes to Help You Stay Positive, brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours” -Swedish Proverb

“Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness.” -Oprah Winfrey

“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”  -W. Clement Stone

“I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.”  -William Allen White

“It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.”  -Robert H. Schuller

Conversations Behind Razor Wire—ARISE Interviews Incarcerated Gang Members.

For its upcoming book, filled with stories about the dangers of gang life, ARISE Foundation interviewed several incarcerated young gang members about their experiences.

As part of its mission to write life skills curricula that is authentic and realistic, ARISE founder Edmund Benson went to a juvenile correctional facility August 7 and sat down with several young gang members in an effort to hear their stories and give them a chance to warn at-risk young people about the perils of gang life.

Teens may not listen to authority figures, but they do listen to each other. Firsthand stories of the constant fear, danger and violence of life inside a gang are a way to reach young people on the cusp of making the life-destroying decision to join a gang. Quotes from the interviewed gang members will be included in ARISE Foundation’s new upcoming collection of stories about gangs, written by people from all over the country. Each story was handpicked to illustrate a critical point. Topics range from the disastrous effects gang life has on someone’s family members to how easy it is to lose your life to gang violence. The stories illustrate, using plaintive, stark language, how easy it is to get caught up in the endless cycle of revenge that gang members live in every day.

The three interviewed gang members spoke candidly about the actions that led them to their incarceration. One 17 year-old, who joined a gang at age 12, spoke of the constant nightmares that plague him.

“The worst part of being in a gang,” he said, “is every night when you go to bed, you see the faces of the people you hurt, and your friends that got killed. That’s the hardest part, the nightmares.”

ARISE hopes to duplicate the success of one of their most popular books, “31 of Taneka’s Urban Tales,” with this new anthology of captivating stories.

For more information please call ARISE Founder Edmund Benson at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit ariselife-skills.org.

Five Wise Quotes About Anger, Brought To You By ARISE Life Skills Curricula and Training

• A man is about as big as the things that make him angry -Winston Churchill
• Not the fastest horse can catch a word spoken in anger -Chinese proverb
• Do not teach your children never to be angry; teach them how to be angry.  -Lyman Abbott
• Resentment is an extremely bitter diet, and eventually poisonous.  I have no desire to make my own toxins.  -Neil Kinnock
• Consider how much more you often suffer from your anger and grief, than from those very things for which you are angry and grieved.  -Marcus Antonius

Anger is a poisonous emotion.  Each moment you are angry, your heart races, your body tenses up, your mind shuts down and your immune system weakens. A life spent in anger and resentment is a life wasted.

It’s not always easy to let go of anger. People often need guidance on how to consciously choose peace over conflict. If you or someone you know needs help controlling your emotions, ARISE can help.  The CHOICES: Drop It At The Door program teaches participants how to shed negative emotions and stop the boomerang effect of stress and anxiety ricocheting between home and work. Stop bringing your troubles at home into the workplace and vice versa. Relax and choose your own thoughts.  It is possible.

For more information on the Drop It at The Door workshop or the ARISE Anger Management books, visit the ARISE Website.

Words Can Hurt, brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

Quite the contrary.

Words are powerful. Harsh words spoken to a child can resonate throughout their life, as can words of encouragement. Words have the ability to elevate someone to their highest potential or shred their self esteem.

ARISE created this poster around the power of words. It’s just one of hundreds of motivational posters and materials created to help illustrate important ideas.  Each poster uses images and direct, to-the-point text to illustrate everything from the importance of staying in school and away from drugs to avoiding poisons around the home.  In a world of constant advertising built around bite-sized snippets of information, posters are a way to provide valuable lessons in a quick, impactful way. Each book in the ARISE Life Skills library features several different posters, each meant to provoke thought and inspire conversation.  These colorful, original pieces of art come in all sizes, from portable 11″ x 17″ sizes to the beautiful wall-sized 24″ x 36″ versions. Check out ARISE Foundation’s collection of posters here.

Five Quotes to Ponder, brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

Life is a perpetual quest for knowledge. Here are 5 quotes from some of history’s smartest people to help you in your own personal journey. For more quotes like these and to learn how to use them to teach life skills lessons, visit the ARISE website: http://www.ariselife-skills.org to order ARISE books or sign up for a training course.

Advice from Mom: 10 Pearls of Wisdom Brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

Being a mother is hard work. You dispense hard-learned advice just to have it ignored most of the time. Only once your children have grown, made their own mistakes and had their own triumphs, do they realize exactly how valuable your advice was.

These are 10 “pearls of wisdom” collected by the ARISE Foundation over their 20 years of life skills training. The contributors are of all different ages, races and socioeconomic levels. Everyone has one thing in common: they all learned something from their mothers. For more, please visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org

ARISE as a Gang Prevention Program

The ARISE Gang Prevention Program was featured on West Palm Beach’s FOX-29 News in their “Making a Difference in the Community” segment.

PLAY NOW (18.3MB)

Download ARISE Gang Prevention Media Kit (PDF)

There are a variety of reasons that teens join gangs. Some are looking for prestige and excitement. Others are looking for income, protection, or a sense of belonging.[1] There are also factors that help protect youth from joining gangs. Youth that use their free time in positive ways are more resistant to joining gangs. After-school programs, sports, and the like give youth a sense of purpose, relieve boredom, and give them connections with others.[2]

Given the trends in gang violence and youth gangs today, ARISE approaches gang prevention in multiple ways. First, ARISE has developed life skill curricula with over 260 practical life skill lessons, such as anger and conflict management, the importance of a staying in school, finding and keeping a job, self-esteem, healthy living, graffiti avoidance and more.

These lessons contain vital information youth need to make healthy choices in their lives. Armed with this practical knowledge, youth will be better able to resist recruitment into gangs. Youth will learn how to find legitimate employment and how to resist drugs, guns, and conflict. Each lesson contains all the needed background information on the topic as well as multiple engaging, fun activities.

ARISE recognizes that it is important to help youth before gangs solicit them. ARISE has a number of materials available to reach youth of all ages. The curricula have been specifically designed to be age appropriate. We have many different materials available for pre-K, K-grade 1, grades 2-3, grades 4-5, middle school, and teen/young adult. It is never too early or too late to start a gang prevention program.

ARISE not only provides valuable life-skill lessons, but we train instructors to effectively teach the material and serve as mentors to troubled youth. ARISE provides staff training for those working directly with at-risk youth in various settings (after school programs, secure facilities, churches, etc.). We offer on-site instruction to the staff in how to use the ARISE curriculum and instructional ARISE formula in order to receive the maximum benefits from the curriculum.

The intensive Life-Management Skills Instructor Training will instruct your staff on how to use the ARISE curriculum to the fullest. Among other things, trainees will learn how to manage difficult students, effectively run group activities, and successfully lead group discussions and brainstorming techniques.

The ARISE groups resulting from the combination of ARISE lessons and certified instructors provides the most powerful prevention to gang involvement. It is within these groups with the facilitation of the instructor that the magic happens. Not only are the youth exposed to vital information in an interesting and interactive way, but they also get to bond with instructors and other youth in the group. Youth are given the opportunity to share their feelings and experiences, as well as learn from their peers. The groups form a connection of caring and respect. The youth feel valued, understood, and listened to in ways that are often lacking at school and at home. They are given the sense of belonging they need to avoid gang involvement.

ARISE is one of a kind. It is the only known program designed to reach at-risk youth and juvenile offenders with reading difficulties at all ages and provide a comprehensive set of necessary life-skills. The ARISE program is perfect for people looking for a structured program to implement in a gang prevention program. The lessons are also easily added to after school programs, church programs, or any other organization that would like to prevent gang recruitment.

In addition to the ARISE curricula and training, ARISE also offers another program for gang prevention that can be implemented in any community called Grab a Future. For more information on this program, check out the Grab a Future page.

Please take a minute to view our powerful gang prevention short story entitled “Diamond in the Rough.”

ARISE Curricula that Address Gang Risk and Protection Factors

ARISE offers life skills curricula for those specifically looking to establish a gang prevention program. Please view our selection of Gang Prevention and Intervention materials in the ARISE Online Store.

Footnotes
[1] Howell. J.C. (1998). Youth Gangs: An Overview. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

[2] The National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center website, “Youth Gangs,” retrieved March 7, 2007, from http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/teens/gangs.asp