Basketball
is our essential vehicle for getting youngsters off the streets
and into our courts. Our All Star and MVP coaches are the key to
teaching both basketball and life skills. The making lay-ups and
jump shots is the easy part, but affecting the behavior of young
people is very difficult as any parent or teacher will tell you.
Our program utilizes the influence of our All Star and MVP coaches
who are closer in age and role models, and the kids listen to what
they say and do. This relationship is key for teaching life skills
as often teachers and parents are in too much of a position of authority,
and there is not an opportunity for honest discussions or learning.
We address sensitive but critical aspects of the young peoples lives
that teachers and adults may not feel comfortable doing.
The aim of the H4H coach is to become an effective activists and
advocate for positive change in the lives of these young people
who grow up in very challenging environments plagued with poverty,
crime and HIV/Aids to name a few. The educational role the All Star
and MVP coach plays is proactive rather than reactive, meaning that
they bring respect, fun and sport into the lives of these young
people and are able afforded a rare opportunity with young people
today to discuss those important life changing and damaging topics
at the same time.
The goal of the H4H coach is to:
- Build young people’s skills in critical thinking
and problem solving.
- Strengthen positive norms and behaviors.
- Engage in interactive and challenging examination of beliefs,
biases that stand in the way of healthy attitudes and actions.
- Make a healthy environment on their team a memorable and fun part
of their lives.
Young people love to be told what not
to do so they can go out an try it themselves, which in today’s
age of HIV and drugs is like playing Russian Roulette.
Life skills messages are often heavy with facts and warnings, preaching
about what pleasures are dangerous and what NOT to do. It is often
full of doom and gloom and young people groan when they see them
coming. Delivering warnings and dire predictions may be accurate,
but rarely effective. High-risk behavior in youth is often a result
of feeling invulnerable, an attitude that “it won’t
happen to ME”.
Our activities promote interactive learning
intended to get the young people thinking, talking with one another,
declaring and examining their attitudes. Much of the peer educator
success is based in the engagement of your group, where the coach
shouldn’t be doing most of the talking, so that a stimulating
but informed, serious conversation can be achieved by the young
people themselves.
The goal is to create an expansive, safe and
comfortable environment, but it is critical that to manage the learning
process. So we seek to give the young people the experience of thinking
and talking about critical life issues under certain ground rules:
- Respect for the person who is talking
- No excessive, abusive or hurtful language
- Distinguish between fact and opinion
- Insist on logic
- Connect actions to consequences
During a normal basketball practice of
an hour and a half we require that all teams devote 20 minutes to
our Skills 4 Life Circle. This can be done at the beginning, middle
or end of the practice depending on where the coach feels that it
fits the best with the day. Sometimes something that happens on
the court, like disrespect of a player will trigger the time to
bring this incident into discussion.
To take advantage of peer educator strengths
we encourage small group discussion, and with many children in our
programs we work in a Skills 4 Life station while the rest of the
team may be practicing.
An effective module will be taught in a comfortable spot away from
the action on the court. The SKILLS 4 LIFE station through which
all of our youth rotate will deal with a point of discussion, utilizing
our 7 Tools and how they are used to respond to real life challenges.
We seek to educate young people on many
facets of life, and sport has a way of doing this often just on
its own by getting kids out of the neighborhoods, meeting new people
and making friends. But H4H pushes the limits of this notion as
we host Conflict Mediation tournaments, which bring together many
diverse teams from different economic, gender and race groups.
We facilitate a truly meaningful experience
by mixing up the teams so that we all learn to get along despite
our differences and utilize the power of important people to speak
to the young people on various life issues.
We work with the experts at the University of Cape Town’s
Center for Conflict Resolution in these powerful tournaments that
are bringing South Africa’s young people closer together!
The major questions we intend for the young people to ask themselves
is:
1. What do I believe? Activities that cause
them to examine and question their attitudes and behaviors.
2. What have I learned? Activities that help them to learn new
attitudes, skills and behaviors they will need to succeed and
survive.
3. What will I do? Activities that help them to resolve to act
on their new attitudes, skills and behavior.
4. What are the FACTS, DECISIONS, and CONSEQUENCES in Life?
The Skills 4 Life Modules introduce and build
both generic skills and skills specific to healthy living. In each
module we seek to promote these relevant skills.
- Critical
thinking: the ability to integrate alternatives,
opinions, judgements with reflection when deciding what to believe
or do.
- Communication:
The ability to interact with others, to read and listen with understanding,
to express caring, concern and well being of self and others.
- Assertiveness:
The ability to stand up for yourself, help others and express
positive and negative feelings without being disrespectful, pushy
or hurtful.
- Decision- making:
The ability to identify critical choices, to consider alternatives,
to assess the consequences of each alternative for oneself and
others. To choose a healthy course of action, to act with conviction,
and to evaluate the outcomes of the decision.
- Positive self-talk:
The ability to remind ourselves that we are special, unique and
worthwhile people, and thereby to ensure that we avoid making
decisions based on a feeling of lack of self worth.
- Self- assessment:
The ability to examine one’s beliefs, knowledge, health,
attitudes, skills and behaviors and decide which aspects need
further growth or when action needs to be taken.
- Risk assessment:
the ability to analyze situations, choices, and actions and estimate
the degree and likelihood of hazards and benefits.
- Healthy self- management:
The ability to make situational and lifestyle behavior choices
that result in maintaining personal health.
- Advocacy: The
ability to act to enhance the health of family, friends and community.
- Good Sportsmanship
- Friendship: What are the qualities of a good friend?
- Who are your role models and why?
- HIV/Aids: myths, realities and fears.
- Road Safety
- Fire Safety
- Influences: Good & Bad
- My Strength’s & Weaknesses
- Do I respect my parents & teacher?
- Why do I love my country?
- Do I want to be a Smoker?
- Protection: Don’t Pop My Bubble
- Importance of Good Grades
- Running and Sitting Meditation
- Fouls 4 Life Game: you only get 1 foul in life, not 5 like in
hoops.
- Your Inner Police: listen to that little policeman on your shoulder.
- Ruler 4 Life: how to prepare & measure your life and plan
for it.
- How to Say NO!
- Skills 2 Pay the Bills
- H4H Fitness Without a Weight Room
- H4H Fitness Challenge
- Provided by the Children’s Institute
at the University of Cape Town
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