Ypsi-based program partners with formerly incarcerated writers to help youth heal through creativity

A high school program in Utah is combating increasing rates of teenage suicide by equipping children with the tools they need to manage thoughts of hopelessness. The program is known as ME (Mood Enhancement) Time and aims to provide youth with tools to learn the connection between their thoughts, actions, and feelings in order to be aware of what they can control to counter sadness and hopelessness. Students meet in counseling groups of 6-8 students for six sessions and discuss tools such as physical activity, keeping a mood journal to become more self-aware, and volunteering to alleviate depressive symptoms

Should police be law enforcers or social responders? Some leaders say "guardian" duty is at least important as purely law enforcement tasks, sometimes known as "warrior" work. That idea is rooted in centuries-old principles of policing.

At Syracuse, New York’s Hillbrook Detention Center for youth, the Thinking For A Change program provides kids with classes – taught by mentors with similar backgrounds – like conflict resolution, anger management, problem-solving, and how to recognize signs of abuse. The program is part of a national shift toward rehabilitation and community-based programming, which is associated with a decrease in the number of youth experiencing incarceration.

Surfing lessons are bridging racial divides and providing a therapeutic outlet for disadvantaged children in South Africa. In a society largely segregated by race, children in Cape Town’s black communities disproportionately suffer the traumatic effects of violence and poverty. Waves for Change, a nonprofit based in Muizenberg, uses surf therapy as a way to mentor and empower kids in Cape Town, helping to desegregate South Africa’s beach and surf culture in the process.

The nonprofit organization, SquashSmarts, works with Black and Latino youth on Philadelphia’s north and west sides to mentor them from middle school through the end of high school. The organization offers academic services like help with homework and college applications, and rounds out its services with athletic instruction in squash – all at no cost to kids and families. The program has helped students raise their GPAs, get into charter schools, and be accepted into high-standing universities like Morehouse College and Temple University.

Whitten Preparatory, a mostly black middle school, is one of four schools in Jackson that are trying to combat disciplinary issues and keep violence low by using peer mediation - training students to be mediators so they can help their classmates come to a peaceful resolution to their issues.

Minnesota schools began a comprehensive program aimed at assisting children of minority groups to successfully navigate the college application process and push them towards higher education.

In Baltimore, a non-profit known as the Next One Up program is helping young men who are struggling in school by supporting and advancing their academic, athletic, and social development through small group activities. Although small, the highly-individualized program – which "focuses on students who have attendance issues, have experienced trauma, or need food, clothing, or parental support" – meets every Sunday for class and homework help, followed by a sport of their choice. All who have participated so far have graduated high school on time.

In Rochester, NY, the Center for Teen Empowerment, a nonprofit that trains youth in community organizing, personal development, and anti-violence, is working to bring kids off the street and into safety. The program, which started in Boston, is centered on four ideas: jobs (paying the youth hired as organizers), teamwork, agency (letting them build their own activist agendas), and peer influence. While hard to evaluate because of its situational, qualitative nature, city officials, including law enforcement, point to the program as a factor in the decrease in violence across the city.

A K-12 public charter school in Colorado was facing a shortage in resources when it came to mental health counseling for students, so professional counselors have started training students to help. These students act as volunteer peer counselors and provide support to their fellow students by giving them a place to talk about their struggles and stressors.