Create safe, affirming and fair environments where youth can improve their social and emotional learning, build positive relationships, and reduce bullying.
Collaborating with Illinois 4-H is an extraordinary partnership that seamlessly weaves together experiential learning, positive youth development, and research-based programming. This partnership introduces you to a realm where learning standards spring to life, and students are equipped with skills that extend far beyond the classroom. Our programs provide the resources to cultivate an environment where students flourish. For in-depth program details and training inquiries, we're here to assist you.
Key Concepts
- Communication
- Cultural Competency
- Leadership
- Personal Development
- Personal Safety
For Youth Grades Youth ages 11 to 14 (Grades 6, 7 & 8)
Be SAFE is designed to help young people and adults work in partnership to create environments that are physically and emotionally safe. It includes engaging in activities that promote social and emotional learning and development, address and prevent bullying, and foster positive relationships with peers.
The overall objectives of Be SAFE are to:
- Promote social learning and development
- Address and reduce bullying
- Prevent bullying behaviors by tapping the wisdom and assets of youth and adults.
- Develop positive relationships with peers and adults.
WHAT MAKES BE SAFE UNIQUE:
- Grounded in Positive Youth Development
- Be SAFE taps into the wisdom, strengths, and resiliency of young people and draws them into a process of learning, growth, and change – alongside and in partnership with adults.
- Explores the Complexity of the Issue
- Be SAFE encourages us to step back and take a broader view and look at bullying through a variety of lenses to examine complex issues.
- About Social and Emotional Learning and Health
- Be SAFE draws from the research on social-emotional learning and integrates it throughout the curriculum.
- Shines a Light on Shame
- Be SAFE encourages adults and youth to talk openly about their experiences within a safe and caring environment where they can be vulnerable and develop critical awareness about the issues.
- Distinguishes between Bullying and Harassment
- Be SAFE invites young people and adults into important conversations about the differences between bullying, bias, and harassment and provides opportunities to learn about human differences in healthy ways.
The Be SAFE Focus Areas:
- Creating a SAFE space
- Exploring Bullying
- Addressing Cyberbullying and Cybersecurity
- Understanding Differences
- Nurturing our Emotional Intelligence
- Developing our Social Intelligence
- Moving from Bystanders to Allies
- Keeping Ourselves Safe
- Becoming Critical Consumers of Media
- Reflecting on our Be SAFE Experience
An overview of the curriculum is available in this webinar from the University of Michigan Extension
https://go.illinois.edu/BeSafeOverviewWebinar
The curriculum can be implemented in a variety of program settings, such as school enrichment, after-school programs, clubs, camps, and community sites.