Schools Expand Access To Emotional And Behavioral Supports

300,000 teens use computers at school for SEL and behavior; now they can get 24/7 personal supports on their phones

News provided by

May 22, 2019, 10:37 ET

ALAMEDA, Calif., May 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Discrimination, acute anxiety, drug use, domestic violence, hate crimes, learning disabilities, online bullying, offline harassment, sexual assault -- a barrage of personal and social stressors press on today's teens and interfere with their behavior and academic success. These stressors hit hardest in low-income and minority communities. Schools feel the effects of the problems, but most teachers have not been trained to deal with them, and even the most caring adults are not available 24/7.

In response to this challenge, Ripple Effects is leveraging teens' close connection to their smartphones to extend personalized motivational counseling and SEL training wherever and whenever they can most use them. "For teens who want to explore their lives, change their situation, and gain new ideas and insights about themselves and their potential, this app can be a game-changer," says Dr. Maurice Elias, Director, Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab at Rutgers University.

300,000 teens in 3500 schools from rural Appalachia to New York City, from the Deep South through the Midwest, to the shores of California -- already use Ripple Effects motivational counseling and SEL skill-training software to improve grades, behavior, depression and resiliency. Most often it's used after the fact -- in discipline, alternative, and mental health settings. However, "the time and place students would get the most out of personal supports is not in a detention room, but wherever and whenever they face the real world challenges that trigger their behavior, academic underperformance, and mental health issues," says Pocket Coach Creator and Ripple Effects CEO, Alice Ray.

Pocket Coach offers more than 1000 doorways into 430 interactive, multimedia tutorials about a whole spectrum of issues young people struggle with. Each includes 10 optional ways of learning; including first-person true story and peer modeling videos, interactive self-profiles, assessment games, journaling, direct instruction and transfer training exercises, with feedback and scorecards. All are delivered in peer voices, not adult authority figures. Tutorials that deal with serious personal or public safety issues provide numbers for crisis response lines. It has strong built-in protections for learner privacy, while still allowing schools to document overall usage. The cost is just $1 per student per year for Ripple Effects clients.

Watch a video about Pocket Coach

About Ripple Effects
Ripple Effects Inc., the pioneering social-enterprise that introduced digital SEL to the nation's schools in 1998, is listed as a Model Dropout Prevention Program and was on the NIH/SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). It has garnered 29 major awards of excellence. Woman-owned, the Company has been recognized for leadership as a double bottom line business, with awards from Haas Business School, Foster Business School, and NAWBO. It has been featured in various media outlets over the years.

For more information, please visit www.rippleeffects.com

SOURCE Ripple Effects