Health and Life Skills
These initiatives develop young people's capacity to engage in positive behaviors that nurture their own well-being, help them to set personal goals, and live successfully as self-sufficient adults. Club programs include Healthy Habits: Triple Play, NetSmartz, SMART Moves, SMART Girls, and Passport to Manhood.
Healthy Habits
Designed to incorporate healthy living and active learning in every part of the Club experience, Healthy Habits emphasizes good nutrition, regular physical activity and improving overall well-being. The program, for members between the ages of 6 and 15, is the Mind component of Triple Play: A Game Plan for the Mind, Body and Soul. Our Society of Angels volunteers work to complement this program through their etiquette lessons with the children, teaching them how to put their best foot forward while making the right nutritional choices.
NetSmartz
With the Internet, social media, and smart phones being a part of nearly every child and teen's daily lives, teaching kids how to be safe online is of the utmost importance to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indian River County. The NetSmartz program teaches Internet safety skills through engaging multimedia activities and offline interaction with Club staff. The program is broken down into three age-appropriate modules: Clicky's Web World (for ages 6 to 7); NetSmartz Rules (for ages 8 to 12); and I-360 (for ages 13 to 18). Topics include personal safety, cyberbullying, shopping safety, and ethical use of the Internet. To learn more, youth ages 12 and younger can go directly to www.netsmartzkids.org; while teens and parents can learn about Internet safety at www.netsmartz.org.
SMART Moves
The SMART Moves (Skills Mastery and Resistance Training) prevention/education program addresses problems such as drug and alcohol use and premature sexual activity. The program uses a team approach involving Club staff, peer leaders, parents and community representatives. More than simply emphasizing a "Say No" message, the program teaches young people ages 6 to 15 HOW to say no by involving them in discussion and role-playing, practicing resistance and refusal skills, developing assertiveness, strengthening decision-making skills and analyzing media and peer influence. The ultimate goal is to promote abstinence from substance abuse and premature sexual involvement through the practice of responsible behavior.
SMART Girls
An extension of the SMART Moves program, SMART Girls is a health, fitness, prevention/education and self-esteem enhancement program for girls ages 8 to 17. SMART Girls offers young women guidance toward healthy attitudes and lifestyles, eating right, staying fit, getting good health care and more. Encouraging young women to have healthy attitudes and lifestyles, SMART Girls helps them reach their full potential. Through dynamic sessions, group activities, field trips and mentoring opportunities with adult women, Club girls enjoy the opportunity to build skills for eating right, staying physically fit, getting good health care, and developing positive relationships.
Passport to Manhood
Passport to Manhood promotes and teaches responsibility in Club boys ages 11 to 14. The program consists of 14 sessions, each concentrating on a specific aspect of character and manhood through highly interactive activities. Each Club participant receives his own “passport” to underscore the notion that he is on a personal journey of maturation and growth. The program includes a service project where boys learn the importance of giving back to the community. Passport to Manhood represents a targeted effort to engage young boys in discussions and activities that reinforce character, leadership and positive behavior.