10 Things to Remember about Conflict Resolution, brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

Anger management and conflict resolution are a big part of the innovative WORK IN PROGRESS  series.  This series, like all the ARISE lessons, are interactive, dynamic and anything but boring! Work in Progress also features lessons on: drug prevention, peer pressure, alcohol abuse, gun safety, violence and domestic abuse and sexual abuse

Without further ado: 10 Things to Remember About Conflict Resolution.

If you keep doing what you’ve always done…

You’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten.

ARISE Foundation Life Skills Training courses are dynamic, interactive, complete lessons that teach vital life skills. Over 1.5 million at-risk people have benefited from our unique curriculum over our 20 year history. Some of the programs we offer:

• How to manage anger & stress at work and in the home
• How to make a choice to let go of anger & stress
• How to avoid gangs, drugs, guns, violence and teen pregnancy
• How to maintain a healthy body
• Environmental Stewardship & Awareness
• AND MUCH MORE!

visit the website for more information: http://www.ariselife-skills.org or visit us on Facebook.

Life Skills Are Not Hereditary; They Must Be Taught

Ever struggle with anger or stress? Wish you could manage your finances more effectively or build stronger, more lasting relationships? Life Skills are the pieces of knowledge that get us through each day. They are taught to us by our parents, teachers and friends.

But what if they aren’t taught?

How do you teach Life Skills? Brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

At-risk youth have it tough. Many come from crumbling neighborhoods and broken homes. Some have had to endure abuse, both physical and verbal, violence, drug use and horrific neglect. That lack of guidance-of a strong adult role model-is part of what landed most of them into the juvenile justice system.

“At risk” means these kids and teens are in danger of becoming another statistic: another inmate in the crowded prison system…

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.

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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

ARISE Works With Some of the Toughest Kids in Florida and the Most Dedicated Caregivers on the Planet.

ARISE Foundation co-founder Edmund Benson recently celebrated his 80th birthday.  As a gesture of thanks, he gave his birthday cake to the dedicated staff of Thompson Academy in Pembroke Pines, FL. Thompson Academy is a secure juvenile justice facility where approximately 150 youth are held under lock and key for six to nine months while undergoing positive behavior changes. While the youth are at Thompson,  ARISE trained group facilitators (the lucky recipients of the birthday cake) conduct ARISE group discussions and activities for 45-60 minutes a day, four days per week. These young men are positively engaged while they learn about anger and conflict management, the importance of education, how to prepare for a world where jobs are hard to come by, and many more valuable lessons. Motivated by the ARISE experience, these youth come to the realization that this information will only help them in life. Thanks to the well-trained staff at Thompson and the ARISE Life Management Skills curricula, created specifically for these troubled youth, they have a chance of leading law-abiding, successful lives upon their release from the program.

Edmund Benson, co-founder of ARISE, celebrates his 80th birthday by contributing over 100 life management skills curricula to the international nonprofit community.

Edmund Benson, former at-risk kid and founder of ARISE Foundation, is celebrating his 80th birthday by giving a gift to the international nonprofit community: the creative licenses for all of the 100 ARISE life-skills curricula materials. Benson will allow the materials to be translated free of charge into any language (except Spanish, which has been done), for use in life-skills training programs around the world.

Benson and his wife Susan created the nonprofit ARISE Foundation in 1986. The foundation has since trained and certified over five thousand group facilitators who have taught over four million documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in Florida alone. ARISE programs are also used throughout the US, in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, the Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Botswana and Kazakhstan.

ARISE life-skills lessons are designed to engage at-risk populations with interactive, entertaining, easy-to-understand lessons about important topics such as anger management, self-esteem, peer pressure, gang avoidance, drug and alcohol prevention, the power of networking, interviewing and keeping a job, domestic abuse, etiquette and manners, conflict resolution, bullying and violence prevention, health and hygiene, stress management, stranger safety and much more.

ARISE lessons have a memorable impact on troubled youth because, for the most part, they are conducted by ARISE-trained group facilitators who carry out guided group discussions with exciting activities that are easily understood and put into practice. ARISE group facilitators inspire conversation, involvement and interest. The ARISE life-skills lessons are not sequential. Each stands on its own, making them ideal for transient populations. Everyone starts fresh with each new learning experience.

ARISE life-management skills curricula are used in public, alternative and charter schools, juvenile justice facilities, residential treatment centers, faith-based organizations, Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s After School All-Stars program and organizations that educate orphans and other troubled youth around the world. The programs are written for underachieving pre-k, elementary, and middle school children, teens, and young adults with limited reading and writing capabilities. The ARISE life-management skills program succeeds with youth who have behavior issues and special needs. Those non-profit organizations interested in the ARISE free creative licensing program can communicate directly with Edmund Benson by calling 561-630-2021 (overseas); in the US, call (toll-free)888-680-6100 or visit the ARISE website at http://www.ariselife-skills.org to download the creative license kit and get more information. #####

ARISE Foundation Reaches Milestone in their Mission to Help At-Risk Youth By Surpassing Four Million Hours of Life Skills Training.

North Palm Beach, FL – ARISE Foundation announced today that it has surpassed four million hours of ARISE life skills training around the country. ARISE provides evidence based curricula and staff training to organizations working with at risk youth.

The ARISE Life Management Skills Training prepares staff, working with at-risk youth, by teaching them the tools and knowledge needed to conduct effective and interactive like skills lessons to the youth in their care. The goal of the ARISE Program is to provide at-risk youth who receive their program with the tools they need to survive, succeed and become productive members of society.

Youth who go through the ARISE program have shown improvement in their overall behavior and decision-making skills. A five year evaluation from the University of Miami’s Department of Sociology concluded that there was significant improvement in student knowledge of issues included in the ARISE Life-Skills Program, such as anger management and violence reduction. The evaluation data also indicated that test scores improved significantly among learners of all ethnic groups (for the complete report visit www.ariselife-skills.org).

 

“When youth first arrive at our facility, they feel they have no alternative but to commit criminal or violent acts during certain situations. Our job is to make them see that crime and violence is not the answer,” explains Calvetti Pate, Assistant Facility Administrator, Cypress Creek Juvenile Offender Correctional Center. “The ARISE program helps them learn other alternatives to violence, and ultimately helps them make better choices. I know they will be more successful when they get out because of what they learned in the ARISE Life-Management Skills program.”

 

For over 20 years, ARISE has operated as a developer and publisher of Life Management Skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed originally to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults. ARISE is particularly appropriate for youth with special requirements, limited reading and/or writing ability. It has been successfully used for over 20 years in the Miami-Dade Florida School System, and in over 100 Washington DC schools, organizations and secure facilities.

 

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, they have trained and certified over 5,000 instructors who have taught over 4,000,000 documented hours of ARISE life skills lessons. ARISE is also being used in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, The Kingdom of Bahrain, and Central Asia. The ARISE curricula is presently being translated into Kazakh and Russian for use with orphans.

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Taneka’s Tales: Urban Fables brought to you by ARISE Life Skills & Training

Everyone loves a good story. Stories are memorable. They inspire empathy, encourage imagination and have the capacity to be great teaching tools. Most kids and teens have trouble sitting still for lecture, but they will gladly listen to a story. Tell them a good tale, and you teach life skills through a “side door” in their mind.

ARISE Life Skills Founder Edmund Benson Celebrates 79th Birthday with an International Gift

ARISE Foundation

824 US Highway 1 Suite #240                                      

North Palm Beach, FL 33408

Phone: (561) 630-2021

Fax: (561) 630-2790

 

 

CONTACT: EDMUND BENSON

Office: (561) 630-2021

Cell: (305) 582-1460

 

                                                               

                                                                               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

 

EDMUND BENSON, CO-FOUNDER OF THE ARISE FOUNDATION, CELEBRATES HIS 79^TH BIRTHDAY BY CONTRIBUTING OVER 100 LIFE MANAGEMENT BOOKS TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.

 

North Palm Beach – Edmund Benson, former at-risk kid and founder of the ARISE Foundation, is celebrating his birthday by giving a gift to the international nonprofit community: the creative licenses of all of the 100 ARISE Life Skills Training materials. Benson will allow the materials to be translated into any language except for Spanish, free of charge for use in life skills training programs around the world.