Alternative Education Environments
At-Risk Youth Feel Less Judged when Learning Decision Skills.
Hugh McElveen and YouthReach
Hugh McElveen, a Decision Professional based in Ireland, has been using the Decision Education Foundation’s (DEF) materials to teach decision skills to at-risk youth participating in YouthReach, a program designed to support students who have dropped out of formal education.
Hugh found that DEF’s decision tools and materials were easy for the students to understand and apply to their own lives, providing a refreshing and engaging change from their typical studies. The students enjoyed the decision skills course, saying it was a welcome break to what they normally study.
Hugh emphasized the unique value of teaching decision skills in programs like YouthReach. Instead of telling students what to do, these tools provide them with a structured framework to make their own decisions. This approach helps students build confidence, as they feel supported rather than judged, and enables them to apply these skills to their own challenges and problems they are facing.
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Craig Sweet and the Anaconda Family Resource Center
Craig Sweet from the Anaconda Family Resource Center in Montana is bringing Decision Skills to young individuals who are in the juvenile detention system. The court was recommending an Anger Management program, but Craig has noticed that it's not usually anger that gets the youth in trouble, but poor decision-making. The state judicial system approves of DEF and has decided that equipping these young adults with the DEF tools for making better decisions is the best answer.
The focus of the program is not punishment, but rehabilitation and to instill confidence with utilizing tools in the decision-making process. Common actions that lead individuals to end up in this program include possession (drugs/alcohol), disorderly conduct (fighting or witnessing fighting), and truancy (not attending school). Students may have felt small in their lives, lost hope, told they may not amount to anything and believed it. The program aims to help the young adults by enabling a positive shift in self-esteem and empowerment. The first step is for them to seize their Decision Power. The capstone project is a presentation to their parole officer that demonstrates what they learned.
