Sign up for a Virtual Support Group
Due to COVID-19 and this extended school break, Teen Life is offering free Virtual Support Groups for Middle School and High School students.
Starting May 5, 2020, Teen Life Virtual Support Groups will be covering a different topic each week including managing stress, personal resources and resilience. Groups will pair approximately 6 students, in the same age range, together in order to provide a safe place to express themselves and a chance to benefit from the support of peers. Make sure you come back each week to reserve your spot in our video chat!
Space in these groups will be limited, so reserve your spot now!
Join the Impact Facebook Group
While we can’t cure Coronavirus, Teen Life is excited to offer teachers, parents and adults working with teens a FREE resource through Facebook.
Usually exclusively open to monthly donors and church partners, you can now join Teen Life’s private Facebook group for FREE until further notice due to the Coronavirus. Check out the Teen Life Impact Group for support, discussion, videos, and exclusive content. Join the conversation with Teen Life and our Resident Experts where we will cover new topics each month that are relevant to living and working with teenagers.
Click this link to join today!
Being a teenager is hard. They need our help!
Do you remember those teenage years? We do too! It is easy to feel overwhelmed and alone, but Teen Life exists to equip, encourage and empower teenagers to live life better. Get involved in one of the following ways:
Why Support Groups?
We believe that Support Groups offer teenagers a safe place to ask questions, receive the emotional support they need, and develop healthy peer and mentor relationships.
If these support groups do not exist, teenagers are going to continue to fall between the cracks. Instead of complaining about the current state of our culture, let’s encourage, equip and empower this next generation to make better choices.
# of students helped during 2019-2020 school year
# of trained Teen Life facilitators
We were so thankful to have Teen Life available to meet with our students. With more demands on the school counselor’s time, it is great to have a reliable option for help with our students. We are already thinking about how we want to use TL next year.
It has been a great blessing to walk beside these kids on their turf, to equip them with some tools to help break the generational cycles of self-esteem, relationship, and spiritual poverty, and to assist them in casting a vision on where they want to be and how they might get there.
YOU'VE GOT TO CHECK THIS OUT!
Restorative Practices with Sarah Sampson
In this episode, Chris and Karlie talk to Sarah Sampson about the basics of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Restorative Practices. Sarah gives some great insight into how to use belonging circles and sentence stems to have difficult conversations around race and privilege. She talks about some practical uses for restorative practices in the home and at school while also giving advice on how to advocate for SEL resources at your students’ schools. Remember, you don’t have to have all the answers – difficult conversations are uncomfortable. But it is important to empower teens to have these discussions by giving them a safe place to practice. Let’s give teenagers a place to grow and learn!
Education and Race with Dr. Jackson
Recently, Chris and Karlie got to have a conversation with Dr. Tishara Jackson about race, and especially how it impacts the education system and our teenagers. Dr. Jackson is an intervention counselor in a local school district and has been a friend of Teen Life’s for a long time! We are thankful for her advice on how to start race conversations, the appropriate language and terminology to use, and how we can educate ourselves. This podcast episode is full of resources, tips, and a different perspective that is needed. Our schools are not always equal, and no matter the race, teenagers are aware of the racial discussions that are taking place in our country right now. Let’s take a minute to listen and learn how we can have these conversations well to empower the teenagers in our lives!
5 Apps to Ask Your Teen About
As adults, we need to help teenagers think critically about what they see online. Here are a few areas where you can ask questions and engage your teen in conversation!
The Accidental Ally
I remember getting the late night phone call that two young men from the youth group I led had been arrested and put in jail. They were African American brothers who lived with their very conservative grandmother. On top of being in jail, they had also found out that...
5 Areas of Focus for Social Distancing
Here we are…still social distancing! In this podcast episode, Chris and Karlie discuss 5 different areas of focus that can help shape this unique time of social distancing. They will talk about the importance of physical movement, mindful moments, self-care, tech breaks, and generosity. It is so vital that you take care of yourself and encourage teenagers to do the same. We might have to change our expectations, and that is OKAY. But let’s make the best of this time of social distancing due to COVID-19! While we hope that life can return to “normal” soon, we want to continue to equip teenagers to grow, learn, and thrive today while also maintaining hope for the future.
The Trauma of No School
It’s been 8 weeks. Eight weeks since life felt “normal.” Eight weeks since my kids went to school, since my husband and I have been out for a date, since I worked in the same location as my co-workers. Eight weeks filled with fun memories with my husband and kids....
