The Conscious Classroom


Book Description

The Conscious Classroom illuminates the power of mindfulness and contextual thinking to transform classroom culture and facilitate deeper learning. Thousands of teens in Philadelphia public high schools are learning to de-stress, think systemically, and develop care for themselves and for others with the Inner Strength System(TM). In a world so cynical about public education, Edelstein's work, which has been empirically validated, shows that education for well-being truly works. "A must read for anyone interested in how to transform education and elevate human behavior " Sam Beard, founder of the Jefferson Awards "This is an inspiring book that looks towards the future with open possibility. Amy Edelstein skillfully shows us the power of mindful awareness in developing clarity and perspective and how these benefits can ripple out far and wide." Diane Reibel, Ph.D., Director, Mindfulness Institute, Thomas Jefferson University "This book is a wellspring of life-giving water in the heart of the contemporary educational desert " Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair " The time and space to meditate might be the core of what high schools need. I left this book with more hope for the world the next generation will create than I have had in a long time." Eric Hoffman, Ph.D. St. Joseph University, former director, American Philosophical Assoc. "A game changer, this book defines the path for how we might collaborate to fulfill the mission of educating conscious citizens." Jonathan Miller-Lane, Ph.D., Director, Program in Education Studies, Middlebury College, VT "The work of Amy Edelstein, in The Conscious Classroom, is so critical. The Inner Strength System equips young people with the tools that breed resilience and emotional self-sufficiency. With these tools, they can stay grounded and rise above the tumult of an uncertain world. Sharmain Matlock-Turner, CEO, Urban Affairs Coalition, Senior Fellow, Fels Institute of Governance. "Amy Edelstein's The Conscious Classroom is a clear and strong voice that empowers teens through mindfulness practices to navigate change, complexity, and culture." Valerie Brown, JD, MA, PCC, Co-Author, The Mindful School Leader: Practices to Transform Your Leadership and School (Corwin, 2014)




War and Drugs


Book Description

War and Drugs explores the relationship between military incursions and substance use and abuse throughout history. For centuries, drugs have been used to weaken enemies, stimulate troops to fight, and quell post-war trauma. They have also served as a source of funding for clandestine military and paramilitary activity. In addition to offering detailed geopolitical perspectives, this book explores the intergenerational trauma that follows military conflict and the rising tide of substance abuse among veterans, especially from the Vietnam and Iraq-Afghan eras. Addiction specialist Bergen-Cico raises important questions about the past and challenges us to consider new approaches in the future to this longest of US wars.




Inner Strength Teen Program


Book Description

The Inner Strength Teen Program teaches mindfulness, adolescent neuroscience, and the perspective of cultural development to teens. This 13 lesson curriculum includes detailed lesson goals and objectives, lesson plans, and additional resources. Ideal for anyone who wants to support students with the tools of mindfulness, self-regulation, social-emotional skills, and school climate improvement.




Supporting Children and Youth Through Spiritual Education


Book Description

Across academic circles over the last few decades, the interest and inquiry on spirituality continues to broaden. Currently, the school system in the United States and many Western countries put their focus on academic achievement at the expense of preparing their students’ inner cores for skills they will need to deal with a more complex and challenging world to come. Supporting Children and Youth Through Spiritual Education provides a platform for researchers and experts in the field of spirituality in children and youth to voice the urgent need for an educational system that truly nurtures the whole child. The book also considers the need to remove the misunderstandings about the terms “spirituality” and “religion” among those who work directly with children and youth. Covering key topics such as religion, cognitive development, and spiritual needs, this reference work is critical for principals, administrators, industry professionals, researchers, scholars, practitioners, academicians, instructors, and students.







Repair for Teens


Book Description

This edition recognizes the unique issues confronting adolescent abuse survivors including peer pressure, difficulties with school, acting out, the urge to self-soothe with cutting or unhealthy eating behaviors, running away, and the possibility of living with an abuser in the family.




The in Crowd


Book Description

Focuses on the causes and effects of peer pressure, especially for teenagers.




Programs to Reduce Teen Dating Violence and Sexual Assault


Book Description

Arlene Weisz and Beverly Black interview practitioners from more than fifty dating violence and sexual assault programs across the United States to provide a unique resource for effective teen dating violence prevention. Enhancing existing research with the shared wisdom of the nation's prevention community, Weisz and Black describe program goals and content, recruitment strategies, membership, structure, and community involvement in practitioners' own words. Their comprehensive approach reveals the core techniques that should be a part of any successful prevention program, including theoretical consistency, which contributes to sound content development, and peer education and youth leadership, which empower participants and keep programs relevant. Weisz and Black show that multisession programs are most useful in preventing violence and assault, because they enable participants to learn new behaviors and change entrenched attitudes. Combining single- and mixed-gender sessions, as well as steering discussions away from the assignment of blame, also yield positive results. The authors demonstrate that productive education remains sensitive to differences in culture and sexual orientation and includes experiential exercises and role-playing. Manuals help in guiding educators and improving evaluation, but they should also allow adolescents to direct the discussion. Good programs regularly address teachers and parents. Ultimately, though, Weisz and Black find that the ideal program retains prevention educators long after the apprentice stage, encouraging self-evaluation and new interventions based on the wisdom that experience brings.




Somebody's Gotta Be On Top


Book Description

In Mary B. Morrison's national bestsellers Never Again Once More and He's Just a Friend, readers met playboy heir Darius Jones and reckless-in-love Fancy Taylor. Now, in this achingly poignant, deliciously sensual erotic novel, she takes Darius's relationships further and explores the ways men and women surrender themselves in order to gain the love they're desperately seeking. . . "The only time a woman should be on top is during sex. . ." So says Darius Jones. At just twenty-two, the baby boy has grown--bigger, taller, sexier, hotter--but he hasn't necessarily grown up. Maybe he isn't messing with the women on his mama's staff anymore, but he's still messing with people's lives and messing up his own. For Darius, "If it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense." And that goes for women, too. Women are there to give him what he wants, the way he wants it. Not that he doesn't know how to pleasure a sister; he just doesn't want them telling him the way it's going to be. On anything. Ever. Including his mother. If his mother was a liar, then every other woman was, too. That's why he relocates from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles, near his mama's business, where he sets up his own company, Somebody's Gotta Be on Top Enterprises. And it's no secret who that somebody's got to be. Now that Darius is all about the control--getting it, keeping it, and taking it away, if need be--he's sure he can apply that principle to finding "the one." But trying to be on top all the time only gets him into trouble with the women in his life, women like. . . Ciara Monroe, president of a rival company. She's earned power and respect the hard way, but Darius isn't about to be outsmarted by her. . .not in bed and not in business. He's going after Ciara on a personal level, digging up the dirt on her past. It's a move that will cost him, and Ciara's not leaving before she confronts him about his feelings for Ashlee. . . Ashlee Anderson is the stepsister who's more than just his friend. She's also the woman he loves and desires. When Darius convinces Ashlee to live with him and manage his finance department, he never expects her to fall for his half-brother, Kevin Williams. Darius will do anything to split them apart, even if it means risking his business. But there's one woman who's got Darius's number. . . Fancy Taylor. With skin like brown sugar, and the bearing of a fine queen, Fancy definitely intrigues Darius. If he didn't have his heart set on conquering Ashlee no matter what, he'd enjoy sampling what the lady has to offer, but that's all. Fancy's a woman with a past that precludes her from being serious relationship material. But fate has a way of stepping in and putting the wrong people on the right path, if they're not too foolish to see it. . . Still harboring the wounds of his mother's deception and a childhood without his biological father, caught between an all-consuming pride and the call of his own untrusting heart, Darius has a lot to learn: about life, women, and what it takes to find and nurture real love. And if he's not careful, he might just end up on the bottom of everything.




The Privilege of Youth


Book Description

The #1 New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author who is a shining example of what overcoming adversity really means now shares the lost chapter of his uplifting journey, which has touched the lives of millions. From A Child Called “It” to The Lost Boy, from A Man Named Dave to Help Yourself, Dave Pelzer’s inspirational books have helped countless others triumph over hardship and misfortune. In The Privilege of Youth, he shares the missing chapter of his life: as a boy on the threshold of adulthood. With sensitivity and insight, he recounts the relentless taunting he endured from bullies; but he also describes the thrill of making his first real friends—some of whom he still shares close relationships with today. He writes about the simple pleasures of exploring his neighborhood, while trying to forget the hell waiting for him at home. From high school to a world beyond the four walls that were his prison for so many years, The Privilege of Youth bravely and compassionately charts this crucial turning point in Dave Pelzer’s life and will inspire a whole new generation of readers.