Year in Impact: Tackling Conflicts, Emotions, and Much More
The data around social emotional learning indicates a growing need in classrooms. Many of today’s students do not have solid social and emotional foundations to help them build and maintain healthy relationships. 70% of parents believe that children should be taught about healthy relationships before the age of 13 but many do not know how to do so.
Last May, the New England Patriots and United Way of the Greater Seacoast launched our local Character Playbook digital education program, empowering students with critical knowledge and skills by providing character education in local community classrooms. We partnered with EVERFI, a leading education technology company, to support middle school students through improved communication skills, recognizing positive and negative influences, managing their emotions, resolving conflicts and stepping up for one another.
In its first year, Character Playbook reached over 1,000 students in 17 schools in New Hampshire. The program covers key topics such Analyzing Influences, Understanding and Managing Emotions, Communicating Effectively and other critical concepts that map to social emotional learning competencies.
Character Playbook has significantly impacted students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. According to pre- and post-assessment surveys, students’ showed a 53% improvement in understanding what influences their decisions and behavior, and a 34% improvement in stopping to think about how they are feeling before taking an action.