Friend2Friend: Resiliency & Growth Teaches Life-long Skills with Measurable Impact
How important is it to teach students to be resilient and to have a growth perspective? The answer is VERY important. In fact, teaching resilience has the potential to change the trajectory of a students’ life.
When a student believes that they are capable of overcoming academic and life challenges, they become resilient. This skill translates into the ability to see challenges and setbacks as opportunities for reflection and reframing of that experience. Not only should these skills be taught by the adults in a child’s formative community (see our program for educators and school staff, Teaching Resiliency & Growth for Educators) but students should have the knowledge to not only help themselves through challenges but also their friends and peers.
We’re excited to announce the release of a new training program joining our products for students, Friend2Friend: Resiliency & Growth. Learn more about this interactive simulation and the importance for learning these skills to set the foundation for improved outcomes both academically and socially.
Why adopt this program for students in your district?
Research has found that challenging life situations are a contributing factor that shape a student’s personality. This includes the levels of stress that a student may experience. If stress is not addressed appropriately, negative consequences can occur. When it comes to a heavy workload, stressful situations, or life factors such as the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, school’s have the unique position to create significant change in the mindsets of their students.
“My 13-year-old self would be very much intrigued to learn this lesson! He would try to implement these interesting strategies in his life and become a person with a much healthier and more developed mindset.” – Learner, completed Friend2Friend: Resiliency & Growth
How does a program like Friend2Friend: Resiliency & Growth help not only students, but school districts as a whole?
- It develops a growth perspective in students. A growth perspective means that you believe that your intelligence and talents can be developed over time. This allows students to effectively overcome challenges and setbacks, allocating more time for teaching and improving student outcomes both in and out of the classroom.
- Lays the foundation for resiliency and positive self-talk. Utilizing the Recognize, Reassess and Reframe strategy, students help each other recognize and manage their emotions and unhelpful thoughts that come from challenges and failures and use self-talk to reframe them.
- Decreases the need for interventions as students become more equipped to manage their setbacks and build positive, realistic perspectives about themselves and their goals.
- Upstream prevention allows educators more time to focus on their core competencies and communication techniques that improve relationships.
- Builds a community of “thrivers” through the development of a “thriving mindset”.
- Improves school climate, reducing frustration that comes from challenges and failures, turn-over, and burnout.
Friend2Friend: Resiliency & Growth teaches students how to navigate setbacks as they set goals for future success. It teaches a positive mindset of learning and growing from experiences and analyzing their mistakes to see what they can learn. This helps them plan for skills, values, and resources that can help them in the future both academically and in life.
Teach students life-long skills through the power of simulation
Our practice scenarios are proven to increase self-efficacy. Where others focus on teaching abstract concepts, we focus on driving actual behavior change. Friend2Friend: Resiliency & Growth allows schools to give students the confidence and skills to initiate critical conversations to improve school climate, safety, and student well-being. For more information on how to bring this simulation to your district, contact us or request an interactive demo to experience the power of virtual humans.