Educating male students on how to overcome battles

Program: Life Matters “The Blueprint to Becoming a Man” Workshop

Schools Ministry Group is one of our seven successful 2017/ 2018 Ansvar Community Education Program grant recipients. Their program Life Matters “The Blueprint to Becoming a Man” Workshop targets high school aged male students, 12-17 years old. Suicide is the number one cause of death for Australian men aged 15-44.

This program will aim to educate male students and bring awareness, along with practical methods on how to overcome battles they may face as they enter adulthood.

The grant will be used to develop this new program, allowing printing and resources to be sourced and also allow for 30 subsidised workshops in South Australia. The workshop will promote awareness of suicide, and allow for healthy discussions along with providing emotion coaching enabling young men to act and help a friend before it is too late.

Key Objectives:

-To create a non-judgemental space for boys to learn, discuss and discover important tools in their journey towards becoming a man.
-Practical methods to overcome any battles.
-Equip the boys with the tools to search out positive male role models within their family and networks.
-Enable boys to decipher false and unhelpful models of manhood that modern culture serves through images and media.

Expected outcomes from the program

The expected outcome of this new program is for boys to become emotionally intelligent, and to have higher EQ. If boys can understand their emotions and with the right tools and resources to assist them in processing and managing their emotions and behaviour from a younger age, they can discover how to be an emotionally intelligent man as they grow into manhood.

Other expected outcomes are that the students will become aware of the pandemic of Australian male suicide, and become advocates for creating change in this area. Boys attending the program will be encouraged, motivated and inspired to make positive choices. Ultimately, to be able to think about what effect their life can have on other people.