positive decisions today passion for the future

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positive decisions today passion for the future
the freedom to live a healthy and fulfilling
life
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Presentation Goal

• To gain greater understanding of the role and
  significance of character education in
  organizations that serve youth.

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Presentation Objectives

• Identify the Six Pillars of Character as defined
  by CHARACTER COUNTS!
• Identify 6 Es of character education
• Describe 3 ways that character education can be
  integrated in your youth-serving organization

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• Free to Be is a character-based, health and
  abstinence education program that trains youth to
  speak on teen panels and young adults to teach
  curriculum to other 12-18 year old youth.

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• Our educators speak in schools and youth groups
  and empower their peers with knowledge, skills,
  motivation and support to choose abstinence until
  marriage, build healthy relationships, make well
  thought out decisions, and set goals for the
  future.

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• Free to Be
• is based in Sonoma County, CA
• has reached 75,000 youth since 1992
• is beginning to train other communities to
  replicate the Teen Panel

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Free to Be strategies

• 1) We provide knowledge and skills through
• Healthy Friendships 6th grade Mini presentation
• 3 age-appropriate Life Choice curricula
• Teen Panel presentation
• 2) We provide support and motivation through
• trainings, activities, and events
• one-on-one support
• volunteer recognition
• campus clubs
• media and website
• parent education

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1) providing knowledge and skills
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Mini Life Choice

• one session
• grade 6
• developing healthy friendships
• understanding
• infatuation vs. love

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Junior Life Choice

• three sessions
• grades 7-8
• understanding relationship levels
• reaching your dreams
• handling pressure

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Life Choice One

• five to seven sessions
• grades 7-10
• understanding intimacy
• understanding consequences of having sex (the
  whole person)
• responding to pressure
• practicing abstinence

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Life Choice Two

• four sessions
• grades 9-12
• developing personal maturity
• living with character
• establishing life goals

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Teen Panel

• one session
• grades 7-12
• practicing abstinence in todays teen culture

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2) providing motivation and support
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peer educator training
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activities and events
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one-on-one support
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volunteer recognition
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media and website

• information packet
• DVD development
• website
• video production

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What is Character Education?

• The teaching of children in a manner that will
  help them develop as personal and social beings.
• Common goals in character education are to
  assist youth in developing into ethical, morally
  responsible, community-oriented, self-disciplined
  adults.

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• Throughout our 7 curricular and educational
  components we emphasize the importance and value
  of taking time to build relationships and
  developing intimate relationships without
  engaging in sexual activity, and we highlight the
  freedoms associated with living with character
  and choosing to wait.

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The CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition

• The CHARACTER COUNTS! Coalition is a partnership
  of schools, communities, governmental agencies
  and the nations leading human-service
  organizations working to advance character
  education.
• Michael Josephson, founder of CHARACTER COUNTS!,
  and other major leaders of educational and
  youth-serving organizations drafted a document
  which articulates a common vocabulary of six core
  ethical values defining character (called the Six
  Pillars of Character).

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The Six Pillars of Character

• Trustworthiness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Caring
• Citizenship
• (trrfcc)

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Using the Six Pillars of Character

• The Six Pillars of Character constitute a
  framework for character education.
• They are not a curriculum but rather a strategic
  framework for teaching character.
• They can be used as a foundation for
  collaboration among those who work with children.

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• Our program components are facilitated and
  taught by youth and young adults who explicitly
  express their values and role-model character in
  the context of realistic and relevant situations.

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How Free to Be uses the Six Pillars of Character

• Trustworthiness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Caring
• Citizenship

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Trustworthiness

• teaches the value of commitment
• encourages teens to stand up to peer pressure and
  do what they know is right
• emphasizes that making excuses will only prolong
  the pressure
• stresses the importance of telling the
  truth, doing what you say and sticking to it
• models courage and the importance of standing up
  for what you believe in even when no one else is
• teaches that postponing sexual activity until
  marriage will result in greater trust in marriage

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Respect

• encourages teens to respect their
  boyfriends/girlfriends
• teaches teens to respect their future marriage
  partners
• teaches teens to be considerate of the feelings
  of others
• models "I feel" statements rather than putting
  someone on the defensive
• emphasizes the importance of boundaries and
  respect for self

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Responsibility

• guides teens to use self-control in avoiding
  pre-marital sexual activity, drugs and alcohol
• encourages future orientation
• teaches that sexual activity can delay goals and
  dreams
• teaches that pre-marital sex has consequences 
  STDs, pregnancy, mental, emotional, financial,
  spiritual, social
• supports teens in healthy choices by providing
  tools and knowledge

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Fairness

• inspires teens to choose abstinence and
  encourages teens NOT to take advantage of others
• teaches that by taking responsibility for their
  decisions, they are not blaming others for the
  consequences of their decisions
• suggests being "open-minded" to the message of
  abstinence, and the benefits and freedoms of
  sexual abstinence until marriage 

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Caring

• reassures teens that they do not have to have sex
  to show how much they care
• teaches that by abstaining from sex, they can
  show caring in many, more effective ways
• encourages caring for self by practicing
  self-control and focusing on goals and dreams
• emulates care and acceptance by recognizing and
  acknowledging the challenges of being a teenager

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Citizenship

• informs teens that by engaging in risky
  behaviors, they not only can hurt themselves but
  also the entire community
• teaches that when teens participate in risky
  behaviors such as sexual activity and drug and
  alcohol use our society greatly suffers
• discusses that everyone will eventually be a
  contributing member of society

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• Effective character education will involve
  developmentally appropriate and context-specific
  curricula strategies designed to reach the mind,
  the heart and the habits.

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Free to Be Teen Panel Model

• Our program is unique and creative. We want to
  permeate our sex-based culture with a positive
  and healthy message through a means to which
  youth can relate.
• We have accomplished this by engaging the youth
  culture by employing youth volunteers to reach
  out and serve their peers.

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Recruiting and Training

• Parental support
• Teacher recommendation
• Extensive training
• Maintain GPA
• Role model agreement
• Peer Educator agreement
• Community of support

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Support and Mentoring

• Monthly socials
• Quarterly educational workshops
• Individualized support plans
• One-on-one meetings with staff
• Youth Advisory Board
• Parent Education Workshops
• Campus Clubs

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Motivation and Recognition

• Presentations in classrooms, after-school
  programs, youth events, etc.
• Yearly STARS recognition banquet
• Youth Advisory Board
• Staff positions
• Development of program components
• Oral and written feedback from students,
  teachers, administrators, community leaders
• Website and media design
• Leadership conferences

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The Six Pillars of Character

• Trustworthiness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Caring
• Citizenship
• (trrfcc)

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• Our program framework reflects our commitment to
  abstinence until marriage
• a lifestyle that develops strong character
  traits that will help an individual throughout
  life.

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Resources Tips Making Character Education work
for you!
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What is good character?

• Math and computer science classes teach you how
  to earn a living as an adult. Good character
  determines whether you will be a successful,
  happy computer scientist. -Maturing in Body and
  Character, Teen-Aid, 5th 6th grade curriculum
• Character is doing whats right when no one is
  looking.

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Six Es of Character Educationby Dr. Kevin Ryan

• Example
• Explanation
• Exhortation
• Ethos (Ethical Environment)
• Experience
• Expectations of Excellence

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• Dear Robbie, I want to let you know that you have
  been a true inspiration to me. Your story was
  unique and original and I truly felt touched by
  it. You have taught me that abstinence really is
  a wonderful thing and many positive things can
  result from it.
• Dear Amber, I just want to say that I really look
  up to you, because thats the type of life Id
  like to live. Ive always been responsible and I
  see where youre coming from, and that the choice
  youve made I want to make myself.
• Dear Shawn, I just want to say that, it takes a
  lot of courage to be abstinent, especially with
  how much pressure guys have to deal with.
• Dear Casey, thank you for coming out and telling
  us about sex. Ive definitely opened my eyes and
  changed my mind. Thank you, you may have changed
  my life.

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Other strategies

• involve youth
• be creative
• encourage accountability
• emphasize the positive
• involve parents
• make it relevant

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Resources links

• www.charactercounts.org
• www.character.org Character Education Partnership
• www.uen.org (search-character education)
• www.schools.utah.gov/curr/lifeskills/character
• www.character-education.info/resources/links.htm
  Legacy Education Resources
• www.bu.edu/sed/caec/index.html Center for
  Advancement of Ethics and Character
• www.centerforlearning.org
• www.school-connect.net
• www.teen-aid.org

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987 Airway Ct., Ste. 16 Santa Rosa, CA
95403 707-526-3819 sue_at_free-to-be.net casey_at_free-t
o-be.net www.free-to-be.net