These handwashing do’s and dont’s can keep you from getting sick. President Obama recently declared the H1N1 flu pandemic a national emergency. There are things you can do to dramatically lessen your chances of getting the flu. In addition to the handwashing tips below, gargle with saltwater and gently swab the inside of your nose with a cotton swab soaked in saltwater. Cold and Flu germs hide in the back of the throat and the nostrils. Even if you’re not sick, blow your nose a few times a day to dispel germs. Just be sure to wash your hands afterwards. Cleansing the nose and throat frequently and washing your hands can help keep you from getting sick. Of course, if you come down with flu-like symptoms, see your doctor immediately.

If you need a visual reminder to wash your hands, ARISE has two posters available for download or purchase—one for adults and one for children. 

Here are the Mayo Clinic’s Do’s and Don’ts for handwashing:

Hand Washing: Do’s and Don’ts

By Mayo Clinic staff

Frequent hand washing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness. Hand washing requires only soap and water or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer — a cleanser that doesn’t require water. Find out when and how to wash your hands properly.

When to wash your hands:

As you touch people, surfaces and objects throughout the day, you accumulate germs on your hands. In turn, you can infect yourself with these germs by touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Although it’s impossible to keep your hands germ-free, washing your hands frequently can help limit the transfer of bacteria, viruses and other microbes.

Always wash your hands before:

• Preparing food
• Eating
• Treating wounds or giving medicine
• Touching a sick or injured person
• Inserting or removing contact lenses

Always wash your hands after:

• Preparing food, especially raw meat or poultry
• Using the toilet
• Changing a diaper
• Touching an animal or animal toys, leashes or waste
• Blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing into your hands
• Treating wounds
• Touching a sick or injured person
• Handling garbage or something that could be contaminated, such as a cleaning cloth or soiled shoes

Of course, it’s also important to wash your hands whenever they look dirty.

How to wash your hands:

It’s generally best to wash your hands with soap and water. Follow these simple steps:

• Wet your hands with running water.
• Apply liquid, bar or powder soap.
• Lather well.
• Rub your hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds. Remember to scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
• Rinse well.
• Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel or air dryer.
• If possible, use your towel to turn off the faucet.

Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than is regular soap. Using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the product’s antimicrobial agents — making it harder to kill these germs in the future.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers — which don’t require water — are an excellent alternative to soap and water. If you choose to use a commercially prepared hand sanitizer, make sure the product contains at least 60 percent alcohol. Then follow these simple steps:

• Apply enough of the product to the palm of your hand to wet your hands completely.
• Rub your hands together, covering all surfaces, for up to 25 seconds or until they’re dry.

If your hands are visibly dirty, however, wash with soap and water. Antimicrobial wipes or towelettes are another option, although they’re not as effective as alcohol-based sanitizers.

Kids need clean hands, too:

Help your children stay healthy by encouraging them to wash their hands properly and frequently. Wash your hands with your children to show them how it’s done. To prevent rushing, suggest washing their hands for as long as it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice. You might place hand-washing reminders at children’s eye level, such as a chart by the bathroom sink for children to mark every time they wash their hands. If your children can’t reach the sink on their own, keep a stepstool handy.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers are OK for children and adolescents, too, especially when soap and water isn’t available. Make sure the sanitizer completely dries before your child touches anything. Store the container safely away after use.

Hand washing is especially important for children in child care settings. Young children cared for in groups outside the home are at greater risk of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases, which can easily spread to family members and other contacts. Be sure your child care provider promotes frequent hand washing or use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Ask whether the children are required to wash their hands several times a day — not just before meals. Note, too, whether diapering areas are cleaned after each use and whether eating and diapering areas are well separated.

A simple way to stay healthy.

Hand washing doesn’t take much time or effort, but it offers great rewards in terms of preventing illness. Adopting this simple habit can play a major role in protecting your health.

“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

MEDIA RELEASE

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790
 
Contact: Edmund Benson
Office 561-630-2021

 
For IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE to conduct its Renowned Master Training Workshop in Marianna with a Select Group of Florida Juvenile Justice Staff.

ARISE Master Life Skills Certification gives juvenile justice staff the understanding and assurance they need to assume leadership roles and teach others how to facilitate ARISE life skills groups.

ARISE Foundation will conduct its Master Life Skills Training workshop October 5^th through 9^th at Chipola College, 3094 Indian Circle. This groundbreaking five-day course will run from 9:00 to 4:30 each day.

Participants in this remarkable workshop will be able to take what they have learned and effectively train others at their organization to lead lively group discussions and activities with the troubled youth and young adults in their charge. The “Big 10” interactive group activities are designed to draw troubled youth out of their shells, get them talking and make them feel listened to and respected. ARISE life-skills lessons are tailor-made for learners with reading and learning deficiencies and severe behavioral issues. The Master Life Skills trainers will teach others how to steer youth in the right direction by providing new facilitators with the know-how to use the breakthrough ARISE curricula to help disadvantaged youth grasp life’s unwritten rules. Among the 260 life lessons ARISE has created are anger and conflict management, self-esteem, drug and alcohol abuse prevention and job search skills.

For almost 25 years, ARISE, a nonprofit foundation, has functioned as a developer and publisher of life-management skills curricula and staff training programs. Created to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults.  ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and capture the attention of even the most introverted participants.

ARISE attributes its success to its three innovative staff training programs. The Life Skills Facilitator training teaches staff how to conduct ARISE interactive group discussions and activities with the troubled youth in their care. The Master Training workshop, such as this one in Marianna, certifies participants to train others as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators at their respective facilities. ARISE CHOICES: Drop It at the Door shows juvenile justice staff how to drop work-related stress and anger at the door when they get home and vice versa.

ARISE programs were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as alternative schools and organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

Because ARISE is not for profit, it is able to provide a wide array of training opportunities and an ever-evolving life skills curricula for at-risk youth at rock-bottom prices. Profit is not a motivating factor. Its nonprofit status gives ARISE Foundation the ability to get out into the community, speak to incarcerated youth and adults, and turn their cautionary tales into lessons meant to assist at-risk youth in becoming law abiding citizens by learning from others’ mistakes.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than three million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified  5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in almost all 50 states. ARISE has been used successfully in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Botswana and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

For more information, please call Yasmin at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit http://www.ariselife-skills.org.

MEDIA RELEASE

ARISE Foundation

824 US Highway One

Suite #240

North Palm Beach, FL

Contact: Edmund Benson

Office Phone: (561) 630-2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Learn how random acts of kindness can dramatically change your life in the latest ARISE webinar.

By practicing acts of consideration and thoughtfulness, you bring happiness to your life. This webinar will give you practical advice you can put to use right away to improve your relationships.

Forget Facebook and Twitter–simple kindness is the original social networking tool. Conscious acts of kindness in the workplace and at home go a long way toward building connections and trust. Learn the benefits of kindness and how to incorporate it into your day-to-day life with the newest ARISE webinar entitled “Happiness through Kindness.” The webinar will take place on Wednesday, September 23, from 11:30 AM-12:30 PM. To register for the webinar, visit ariselife-skills.org and click on the training calendar on the right side of the home page. ARISE is a nonprofit, therefore we are able to offer this compelling, informative training webinar for a fee of just $19.95 for the general public.

ARISE webinars are the perfect way to reap the benefits of an ARISE training from the comfort of your office. All you need is a phone line and a computer with Internet access to be part of this groundbreaking new series of webinars. In just an hour, you will learn how basic acts of kindness can dramatically affect the way you relate to the people around you.

Have you ever caught yourself concentrating on someone’s faults? We all do it. We focus on what we don’t like in those around us. How about changing your way of thinking? What if you consciously looked for the good in others? And, what if you sought kindness and goodwill by dishing it out yourself? How different would the world be if each one of us paused for a moment and took the time to do something kind for another person? Imagine your boss taking a moment from his day to compliment you on a job well done. See yourself noticing that a coworker is having a rough day and buying them a cup of coffee. Now, stop imagining and learn how to use kindness to improve your life. Gather everyone around your speakerphone, have lunch together and share this important webinar.

For almost 25 years, ARISE, a nonprofit foundation, has developed and published life management skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure juvenile facilities, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults so they don’t end up behind bars.  ARISE programs consist of lively interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and grab the attention of even the most introverted participants. ARISE is particularly appropriate for youth with special requirements such as limited reading and/or writing ability and behavioral problems.  ARISE attributes its success to its three innovative staff training programs. The Life Skills Facilitator training teaches staff how to conduct ARISE interactive group discussions and activities with the troubled youth in their care. The Master Training certifies participants to train others as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators at their respective facilities. CHOICES: Drop It at the Door shows juvenile justice staff how to drop work-related stress and anger at the door when they get home and vice versa. ARISE programs were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as alternative schools and organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

Because ARISE is not for profit, it is able to provide a wide array of training opportunities and an ever-evolving life skills curricula for at-risk youth at affordable rock-bottom prices. Profit is not a motivating factor. Its nonprofit status gives ARISE Foundation the ability to get out into the community, speak to incarcerated youth and adults, and turn their cautionary tales into lessons meant to assist at-risk youth in becoming law abiding citizens by learning from others’ mistakes.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than 3 million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified  5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in almost all 50 states. ARISE has been used successfully in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Botswana and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

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

Posted in arise foundation, arise life skills, kindness, Life Skills, professional training, staff training, webinars Tagged: acts of kindness, arise foundation, arise life skills, happiness at work, how to be happy at work, kindness, Life Skills, life skills training, professional training, staff training, webinars ]]> http://ariselifeskills.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/learn-how-random-acts-of-kindness-can-dramatically-change-your-life-in-the-latest-arise-webinar/feed/ 0 ARISE Life Skills Arise log new [Converted] http://ariselifeskills.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/arise-works-with-some-of-the-toughest-kids-in-florida-and-the-most-dedicated-caregivers-on-the-planet/ http://ariselifeskills.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/arise-works-with-some-of-the-toughest-kids-in-florida-and-the-most-dedicated-caregivers-on-the-planet/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:54:12 +0000 ARISE life skills http://ariselifeskills.wordpress.com/?p=736 ]]>

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.

Through exciting interactive activities and group discussions, teens will learn the crucial skills they need to stay in school and lead productive, successful lives.

Every 29 seconds, a student gives up on school. In an effort to turn the tide, ARISE created a riveting series on dropout prevention. The first volume is entitled “So You’re Thinking of Dropping Out of School,” and it outlines just how difficult life can be for young people who cut their education short. The second volume, “So You’re Thinking of Staying in School,” prepares underachieving teens with the solid reasons they can relate to for staying in school and the knowledge they need to communicate effectively, build meaningful relationships and make healthy decisions. The Dropping Out series is not just an instantly usable prevention tool—it is a resource-packed source of valuable information teens can lean on for advice and priceless tips to help them avoid the hard-knock life most dropouts face.

The “Dropping Out” series is one of the cornerstones of the huge ARISE life management skills library, which is in the process of a thorough update with new photographs and formatting and updated statistics. For almost 25 years, ARISE, a nonprofit foundation, has developed and published life management skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure juvenile facilities, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults before they end up behind bars.  ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and grab the attention of even the most introverted participants. ARISE is particularly appropriate for youth with special requirements such as limited reading and/or writing ability and behavioral problems.  ARISE attributes its success to its three innovative staff training programs. CHOICES: Drop It at the Door shows juvenile justice staff how to drop work-related stress and anger at the door when they get home and vice versa. The Life Skills Facilitator training teaches staff how to conduct ARISE interactive group discussions and activities with the troubled youth in their care. The Master Training certifies participants to train others as ARISE Life Skills Group Facilitators at their respective facilities.

ARISE programs were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, as well as alternative schools and organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Boys and Girls Clubs.

ARISE programs are also used in over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

Because ARISE is a nonprofit, it is able to provide a wide array of training opportunities and an ever-evolving life skills curricula for at-risk youth at affordable rates. Profit is not a motivating factor. Its nonprofit status gives ARISE Foundation the ability to get out into the community, speak to incarcerated youth and adults, and turn their cautionary tales into lessons meant to assist at-risk youth in becoming law abiding citizens by learning from others’ mistakes.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than 3 million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified  5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in almost all 50 states. ARISE has been used successfully in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Botswana and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

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

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. #####

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.

NEWS RELEASE

ARISE Foundation
824 US HWY 1 Suite #240
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Phone: (561) 630-2021
Fax: (561) 630-2790

CONTACT: EDMUND BENSON
Office 561-630-2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARISE gives Pinellas Marine Institute staff the skills they need to prevent at-risk juvenile offenders from dropping out of school.

The two-day ARISE Life Skills Facilitator training workshop will show participants how to lead exciting ARISE group discussions and activities.

ARISE Certified Master Trainer Star Moran will conduct a two-day Life-Skills Facilitator Training at Pinellas Marine Institute in St. Petersburg, FL August 24 and 25. PMI is a Department of Juvenile Justice contracted program serving youth 14-18 years of age who have been frequently delinquent or expelled from public school. The school uses the ARISE curricula as part of its intensive dropout prevention program.

The ARISE Life Skills Instructor Certification program is part of a comprehensive approach to getting at-risk youth back on track. The freshly-certified instructors emerge from training with confidence and a thorough knowledge of how to engage troubled youth in active group discussions and awaken their sense of creativity, cooperation and self-worth. Not only are staff members taught how to build relationships with kids that rebel against authority figures, but they are also provided with the innovative ARISE life skills curricula. The ARISE library was designed to educate youth who may have trouble reading and writing. Each lesson appeals to learners of every age and scholastic ability. The pages are easy to read and packed with attention-grabbing activities that teach valuable life skills such as anger management, substance abuse prevention, gang avoidance, interview and job search skills, health and hygiene, STD awareness and much more.

For over 20 years, ARISE has operated as a developer and publisher of Life Management Skills curricula and staff training programs. Designed to reach at-risk, incarcerated youth in detention centers and secure facilities as well as other troubled youth, ARISE is also utilized as a powerful prevention tool for teenagers and young adults. ARISE programs consist of interactive group discussions and activities designed to break the ice quickly and grab the attention of even the most reserved participants. ARISE is particularly appropriate for youth with special requirements such as limited reading and/or writing ability and behavioral problems.

In its home state of Florida, ARISE were utilized for decades in the Miami-Dade School system. ARISE has forged a strong partnership with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). ARISE programs have been changing the lives of juvenile offenders in the Florida juvenile justice system since 1996. Its dynamic programs are being taught in over 70 DJJ facilities across the state, including the Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs and alternative schools.

ARISE programs are also used in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and over 100 organizations in the District of Columbia, including Washington, D.C. public and charter schools, the D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, the Metropolitan Police, the District of Columbia jail and the D.C. Superior Court Probation Department.

A recent study by Vanderbilt University and the University of Maryland showed that the cost of one offender with at least six police contacts from childhood to age 32 is $3,172,998. In other words, rescuing one child from a life of crime saves taxpayers more than $3 million dollars.

Since ARISE was established over two decades ago, it has trained and certified 5,760 Group Facilitators who have taught over 4,055,708 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons across the United States. ARISE is currently being used in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Kingdom of Bahrain. Requests for translation have also come in from as far away as Pakistan, South Africa, Cambodia, Singapore and China.

For more information, or to sign up for training, please call Yasmin Isaacs at ARISE toll free: 1 (888) 680-6100 or visit ariselife-skills.org.

No man is an island—we are influenced heavily by the people in our lives. True friends, those that lift us up when life knocks us down, are rare and valuable things. Especially during the turmoil and confusion of adolescence, friends can mean the difference between failure and success. Succumbing to peer pressure and picking the wrong friends can destroy your future. How is someone a friend when they seek to see you fail? Real friends share in your triumphs as if they are their own.

1.  ”The only pressure I’m under is the pressure I’ve put on myself.” —Mark Messier
2. “True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like leaves, found everywhere.”  —proverb
3. “A true friend advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously and continues to be a friend unchangeably.”  —William Penn
4. “Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend but it requires a very fine nature; it requires, in fact, that nature of a true individualist with a friend’s success.”  —Oscar Wilde
5. “I can trust my friends. These people force me to examine, encourage me to grow.”  —Cher

Peer pressure and harmful friendships are often big factors in someone’s decision to stay in school or drop out.  For more information on resisting peer pressure and choosing the right friends, check out So You’re Thinking of Dropping Out of School, which will soon have a companion volume entitled “So You’re Thinking of Staying in School,” a valuable handbook for how to communicate effectively, build healthier, closer relationships, become a better listener and manage negative emotions. Dropping Out book one gives you the reasons why you should stay in school; book two gives you all the tools you need to follow through and get your diploma.