funding for this program was providy... sometimes as we through life, weaster ouexperiences. sometimes we don't. captioning made possible by the annenberg/cpb project

people make homeovies to remember the good times. usually thmovies ow uat our best or at our most human. if viewed at the end of a lifetime, a person might say, "it was all right. i had me fun and weathered the storms." what ds it take to remain relatively unscathed

as the srms come and go? is there a way to help people meet le's challenges and to maintain psyclogical well-being? "an ounce of prevention worth a pou of cure," goes the old saying. it's easier said thanone. prevention is kind of ineffable thing. it's something that yocan't conceptualize easily, and we don't easily conceptualize it as a soety. dr. price used to treat people with disorders. now he designs programs to prevent those disorders. when you prevent something, nothing happens. something that could have haened didn't happen and that's very hard to see. we're oriented to prlems and to crises and to curinthem. prevention has a kind of elusive quality because of that. since the early 196os, prevention researchers have focused on how to prevent psychologil disorders by decreasing such risk factors

pover, ild neglect, cialsolati, and the effects of major life stressors as family iness. these risk factors can contribute to severe dysfunction-- conduct disorder, major anxiety, substancabuse, rsonality disorders, and pres. psychologists have also identified ways to increase such protective factors as positive role models, specific coping skills, and good parenting. ese factors can help seld pele from the damaging effects of life's ises, but thrk must be done throughout one's life. all the major evts of your fe-- the birth of children, ing ofto school, or harps, difficulties, loss of loved ones, the whole variety of changes that take place in the lives of people--

you need to prepare people to do that. now, you can start preparg people from the very eaiest age. from the time they're little children, you prepare them-- you begin to prepare them r changend adjustments, but it isn't a one-shot deal. there's no single thing that you cano. in the next hour, we'll exame four preventn efforts. these rts are targeting itical stages in the life cycle and teaching strategies that help people handle their lives more succefully. these look like happchildren. how n they remain this vibrant, this involved their wors? if they continue to receive parental warmtand attention, if stressors don't overwhe them or their parents... "a." "c, g."

"b." "f, c. if they e exposed to supportive environments the outlook can be good. but for troubled or unprepared individuals, parenting can be burdensome, not joyous, and children mayuffer. it was traumic. en i came home wither, i really didn't know what to do with her. yoknow, she would cry and cry and cry. most of her childhood years she spent crying, and i didn't know for what rean shwould cry. diane meez and her familyive inhe mirasol housing project in s antonio, texa thrly ars with vanessa, dest of her rechildren, were very dit. i used to hihe spank her. i didn understand thatid.. when she was 3 or didn't undstan that kids would get intotuff and liked to explore things. when sheould get into stuff,

i would ju spanker on the hands or scream at her, "get out of there!" scream at he really loud, and shwould gescared when i screamed her. there was neglect, and there was some fms of physical abuse in that she was using severe discipline with the chi... mercedes de colon is the dector of pgrams for avce, a prevention project for w-income mexican-american families. die is enrolled in special project that prevents child glect and abuse. our goal is to work the families to stazehem, to educate the to motivatth so that they will be able to ncentrate on their role as a parent, the imrtance of that role, so that they will be able toay more attention to their children, give more nurturinto their children,

and to not be neglecting of the children. because that iwhy they are in this program they are neglectful in different ways. children o are neglected often show impaired cognitive development, aggressive behavior, and extreme difficulty relating to others. they're isolated. they d't have a chan be able to socializ they don't have the motivation to learn, to want be with others. they don't tst in those whore supposed to re for them, and th disust then goeto others, where ey're not able to build relationships. vanessa is deaf in one ear. put it on. t dian didn't know . i used to just sa melf, 'm tired of it. i'm tired of it." and now that she's grown up a lite bit and now that i understd she has a hearing problem,

um, i...i don't get angry, you ow, at her. rather--right now i'd rather untand hore. many avance parents were themselves emotionally deived as children. such adults ofte find it impossible to give emotional sustenance to their children. th damaging cycl is preci what avance is designed toto correct a cyth can hm children of any income group. but it'sore difficul to break when coupled with the social factors thatvail here at mirasol. 95% of the families live below the poverty line. 75% of the adults didn't graduate from high sool. 3oabuse drugs and alcohol. in short povertd deprivation are major contributors to many psychologica problems here. avance helps parents overcome their emotional and economic problems through a structured process. parents learn about child development,

effective parentg, and propriate form of displine. they comete their education anrecee b-ills trainin once thaaccomped, the pares are ven job acement as as theamils pass througese ases, th becomle chaic. the nts grow more respoive, and do the children. oria rodriguez started avance in 1973 we juswant to assist that parent withhe adequate knowledge and skills ansupport that is needed sohat theyan adequately raise thr children, improve themselves emotiolly, econicallyal. and so isence, thwhole family advances forward, and that's why we have called this program avance. it a spanish word meaning to advance anto progr we strongly belie that people can move forward

with adequate support. i get, like, th anger. i don't know. jee makes you mad? somemes heoes, and that day en i told you had spked him, the waing machine was en. the tv was broken... th is a home vit. it providesupport to the families. ma, ke 8o% of the avance stf, is a graduate of the program and a role model for peopleike diane. say that little prayer i always tell you. when you take your mind t of that anger-- i know you have this anger you want to take out on the children. if you think about something else...er try to relax and get away from them. justo outside and come back. you're more relaxed, anyou forgot abt why you were mad. just try to focus on-- hug him or try to talk to them

instead of yelling them. have two older dauters, one 23, one . i wayounwith them. i didn know w to take ca of them the way i know now withy 4- a 5-yeaol i ner paid attention to them. i was al, u know, trying to-- same as diane-- trying to, yokn, hithem because i would be mad at mhusband. and never understanding them, never knowing that i was the first teacher to them, the one who was supposed to teach them fore th went to school. i was a young mo i didn even finish high scol, so when avance came me and i started coming to parting classes, i realized what i had missed with my older daughters, but now i was le to te my 4- d 5-ye-old.

parents from the support team are arriving at avance for group meeting. while they're in class, the children will be in the child-care center it's an riched environment wherthey explore soalize. is, coined wh the education parents ceive, has a positive efft the childn. they become re cious about the rl develop better language skills, and grow more trusti of others. let's looklead to school success at the yelloe.selesteem. the yellow one. thyeow h ane's younger children are already nefiting from avance, and ane has learhow to encougeanessa'swth. she asks a lot of qstions, ani...i ver thought that, um... answering her was-- i never thought th answering her was the right way, the right thing to do.

at avance they told me that it was right. at vanessa's age-- children at that age ask a t of questio. vassa is o-- she wantto know everything, everything that's going around. nothing is one-dimensional at avae. this t-making activity, in which the toys are taken me fhe children, alsoreates a social group for isolated parents. they lived in entirelyferent parts of the community. and now when they come together, they've exchange phonnumbs. they'll call each other. theris a vy iend atmosphere. ey knothey can call upon each other and they share experiences, they are n alone. they need to break that isolation in order for them to--to be huma. we all have a need to have friends, to be with other people, and isolation can be very devastating. neglected childr often live

in very disorganized falies. this ass, the pares arn a specific coping technique-- how to set gls by keeping a ily actityk. this helps them take charge and reduce chaos. i want to hug myids today when they come hom from school... mike is ngle part with six cldren. i want to be able to just--just change my w, you know my childn me he from schooand... you know, they come , d i'm glad. instead of "where are your books?" and "where's youwork?" or "what are you going to do?" you know, the fit ing is aiss, a hug, yoknow, d-- and "how wasr day?" d actually sitting down sitting the first one two chiren to come in-- "sitown. how was your da how'd they treat you?

"what did your teacher say today? "did your teacher say you e the ndsomest and yoare the prettiest?" it doesn seem likeuch, but wh yo keep track and you write down, you know, you can just amaze yourself at how many things you can accomplish in so little time. to involve more fathers in the program, avancetarted these specl fa groups three ars ago. ..nd also you alpl an important pt in the emotional development of your children. this is a lesson we had.

their role is very important in the lives of their child. they did not have this nurturing when they were children. therore, they don'know that's a role they can play. so they're taught how to do that. th're ht the importan and they are given opportunities to have experiences with their child.

and when they begin to practe thesthings with their children, they comback th emotion that they didn't feel before. the avance staff is continually evaluing the effectiveness of its program. in 1991, they found that parents in the progr were more likely th those who weren't toemoremotionallye, coaging,ive, le aggravaby theichildr's behavio antoave anntelley enriched homenvinmen thchanges have been shown lessen the chances cldren having such behaviol probms as sool denquenc academic failure, and conduct disorder. dale johnson is a psychologist and the chief investigator at avance. what happens in avance is that these coercive cycles don't need to develop-- "do this."i won't." "you'd better. i'm going to get you."

"try and make me." that kind of cycle thatan so easily delop and over time leado a real patte of conductisorder does not develop if the parent and chd-- if the parent, especially, finds ways to anticipate the child's noncompliance or the child's difficulties and deal with that problem early on. ov time, thearents me more successful the next step is to help these fathers and moths ster the world of work. e seen from the first wave of families th have been incded in our evaluation that ance particants doakmo classes. they do go on and ge r high school eqvalency. well, i think that what will happen is that they'll get better js d that thell have more money.

tht out of t povty cycle inomway. and ile thisoes not assure a happy li ever te at least ibrings people t of this terribly marginal conditi at we nd a t families in. as the paren get thknowledge, t e il the sus, eyeel a sens empower. eyeel no at they cachange things of theoliotohis veryomplicated pem that ses ems sovelming foanyone and sotis we can wonder how some peoe e making it, livingn the conditions that ty're living in out the suppt anwiout resources th yound i may have. out [dne menz] vassa ju tells me, "iant to finis high school." ani know she will.

as for vonica-- she tells me she wants toinh schoo d to college. vanessjust tells me, "i want to finh hi school." i said, "ok. that's good. at's good." what type of problems do middle school studes encounter? what kind of pblems do they have? yes. gang figs. s. what other problems do we ha in middle school? alcohol. alcoholism among middle schl students. yes. that's presse, gresadesn't ?o. grades and fights aren't the only essure felt by middlechool udents. young olescents ar almost by denition, also at ri for sance use, condu disorder, dangerous sexualehavior, and depression that's why the 1ar-olds at jackie rson ddle school

in new haven, connecticut, are part of a districide prevention effort, one that attempts to keep problems from developing by teaching students how to make effective, healthy decisions. dr. weissberg is director of prevention research training at ye university. early adescents ar developing their identies. they're trying out new behaviors, new identities. there are many choices you have to make in elyleen. if you make goodhoices-- wellol, sting away from s, t gang in premate seehavior in some way-- a time th cabe exciting. you learn a lot and gain a lot d end up hg a ppy escenc that lays a foundation for solid adulthood. on the other hand, if you engage in high-sk behaviors and they have negative impact,

that can lay a foundation for futureuble and difficulties. it is possible to guard against these gh-risk behaviors-- if youngplare surrounded by the right environment, a hesive, supporve family, sitive adultole models and schools that respond to students' academic and social needs. adolescee has always been a period of great personal change-- social, psychological, and biological. but manexperts, e stressors confronting day's youth seem harder than before. there are more oions, more decisns young people have to make. there are more models of undesirle bavio that they haveo kn hoto handle. ey nd more adults in their lives to help em lea to handle thosthings. they have fewer adults their lives because more people work, both pents are worng. they're traveling.ults they're very busy. there are more single-parent families, more divorce.

there are just fewer adults at a time when they need more help and support. to hp children wade through t stressors, the city of new haven started the social development project in 1989. tim shriver overeshe project. we belve schools have to start teaching children hoto deal th these stressors. it can't be hit-or-miss. we have to teach it the way we teach reading. ho we equip a child to reaa bo we do it by starting in kindergarten withounds,ith vowels, with words. we havto do the same thing to equip children to be able to negotiate extremely complex and very, very stressfucial situations. we must start in kindearten with the bass and continue that in regularongoing way througsenior year higscol.

is systemac, classroom-sed instruction to teach children crital thinking skills and oblem-solving. all adults involved in the schools-- parents, teachers, and administrators alike-- use the problem-solving techniques anwork togher in a collaborative way in school planni and manageme teams. mental health teams also bring adults together focus on the climate of the schools and how that climate contributes to the succe and failure of the students. dr. comer has been instrumental in changing new haven schools. he believes that schools with negative climates, in which adults wo in isolation, create difficulties for studen. a good climate at a school ishat makes it possible for the stf and the parents to interact well. when the staff and the parents interact well, the children can identify with staff and paren and be motivated by both achieve at the vel of their ability,

d that's what's critically important. and it is th climate of good relaonships that the adults crte that gives them, then, the authority to sve as role model gues, mentor to the children. dr. comer points out that the difficulties of adolescce appe in all socioeconomic groups. all you have tlook at is the suicide rate, the oblems of alcoholi, drugbuse, teenage pregnancy, anthe like. all e in mide-income, low-income families alik middle-income families often have more resource and wh their chin get into trouble can provide the kind of supports they need handle those things. but their childr ha serious problems. now, thereix sps to proem-solving. you have a problem, what do u doirst? what's theirst thing, lamont? stop, calm down, and thk.

stop, calm down, and in why portant? if y're not calm, you might do something negative good. you're not ca yomado mething negative, and that may cause mo problems, and atwe don't want. how do y know you have a problem? what hapns your bo? ur pal stt swting. palms get sweaty. what ee happens? your heart beats fast. youreart beats fast. mee else.appens? cher merritt and her studen are viina six-step oblem-solving framework. this step-by-step technique based on a traffic-light model helps children learn to master their thoughts, feelings, and actions so they can handle social situations and pressures effectively. oncee know the problem, we c go to step thre what is stepee? what istep thr? shontae. set a positive goa

t a positivel. wh ia ve goal? why do we want our goals to be positive? so you won't do something thatl hurt anybody. yodon't want to ht anyo. on we how weant th to end , what do we want to do next? ishatima. think of lots of solns. why not one?ant why not one?ishatima. y not one sotion? tiffany. because if oneoe't work, you have aerne. one y t atrether reasons. tf many solutions? so you have a choice of the best one. correct. you wanto be able choose the be o to stressorsommoto a chire. toheod for instancea teenager y want to seone bunot ow how, or aoungsteray be challengeda t.

i remember ahild transferrin into our schl, and someone stepped on his foot, and he was ready to fight. another child said, "h, we d't do at in this sc." looked around, and sure enough, the other children's expressions said, "we don't do that." point is at thehildren take on thattude anthe way of working that'scctable and expected that particular vironment. they pass it on and expect that of other children. that's the wayou preve problem beviors within the school anproblem bevis thatou go on and lead tal probls and psyclogil problems. the techque haalso been apted spiay dangerous situations. it's not enough to say, "don't do it," abougal,l,ndeah nsequencesug

and pectt studen, ll remain drug-free. research shows that providing that information alone will not lead to a change in students' health practices at all. it's much more portant toocus on ways to promote [cheryl merrit to ppare fornhancing our -play beliefs. yo a ation and ite down on the fo m going to give you the problem and the sive gl. ed you to write leasthr solutions at you c try. this suati rvesarou pregnteag. r al i toeethe baby. her sotie go to her pen and counselor for help. well, i don't have no money. ani my father saidother he'll thk about it.

my mr sa son't help. shtold to tk to mfather. i'm scar. i don't know what too. it isn't t role-playing that makes theoint, but the groudiscsions before and after that help thteenagers internalize these leons. d she t the kif help she was looking for from her parents? she didn't, so what happened? her plan didn't work, what did e need to do? what did she have to do? yes, terry? went to a counser. she saw counser. what hapnefrom tre? the fit ti, she id thathe had no moy, but they gave her lp the social development project inlveshe entire f inhipron pro. th ia meing ofhe mtal alth tm.