Goals & Lesson Sequence
The goals of the Second Step Middle School program are to decrease aggression, bullying, and substance abuse and increase students’ social skills and school success. The program meets its goals by teaching the skills below.
Empathy and Communication
Students will be able to:
Bullying Prevention
Students will be able to:
Emotion Management
Students will be able to:
Substance Abuse Prevention
Students will be able to:
The goals of the Second Step Middle School program are to decrease aggression, bullying, and substance abuse and increase students’ social skills and school success. The program meets its goals by teaching the skills below.
Empathy and Communication
Students will be able to:
- Lesson 1: Working in Groups
- Understand the relevance of the Stepping In program to their lives
- Identify skills that contribute to successful group work
- Apply communication skills
- Define empathy and apply empathy skills
- Lesson 2: Disagreeing Respectfully
- Distinguish between disrespectful and respectful disagreement
- Apply perspective-taking skills
- Apply skills for communicating their own perspective effectively
- Apply skills for giving constructive feedback
- Lesson 3: Negotiating and Compromising
- Identify how to solve a problem using the Action Steps
- Identify a problem from the perspectives of those involved
- Generate solutions to scenarios using strategies of negotiation and compromise (win-win strategies)
- Generate solutions to scenarios using strategies of negotiation and compromise (win-win strategies)
- Apply the Action Steps to problem solving in given scenarios
- Lesson 4: Giving and Getting Support
- Apply empathy skills
- Understand when and how to give support by being an ally
- Identify when and how to go to an adult for help and when to encourage friends to seek help from an adult
- Apply assertive communication skills
Bullying Prevention
Students will be able to:
- Lesson 5: Responding to Bullying
- Recognize and define bullyingand bystander behaviors
- Empathize with people who are bullied
- Identify strategies to deal with bullying and help others who are bullied
- Understand how a bystander can be part of the problem or part of the solution
- Lesson 6: Cyber Bullying
- Recognize that technology is sometimes used for bullying
- Understand ways they can be “part of the solution” to cyber bullying
- Understand strategies for dealing with cyber bullying
- Lesson 7: Sexual Harassment
- Recognize and define sexual harassment
- Differentiate between flirting or joking and sexual harassment
- Apply assertiveness skills to refuse sexual harassment
- Understand their school’s sexual harassment policy and legal implications
Emotion Management
Students will be able to:
- Lesson 8: Understanding Anger
- Understand that out-of-control anger can result in destructive outcomes
- Understand what happens to their brains and bodies when they experience strong emotions
- Recognize the physical and mental signs that lead to strong emotions
- Identify and apply strategies for staying in control of their emotions
- Lesson 9: Staying in Control
- Understand why it is important to check their assumptions
- Understand and apply calming-down strategies
- Apply the Think Twice Step for checking assumptions
- Apply the Steps for Staying in Control for managing emotions
- Lesson 10: Coping with Stress
- Understand that coping means consciously doing something positive to handle stress
- Understand that avoiding dealing with stress can make feelings worse
- Understand how positive self-talk can change your attitude
- Identify coping strategies (calming down, getting support, taking action)
Substance Abuse Prevention
Students will be able to:
- Lesson 11: Myths and Facts
- Identify basic facts about how their brains and bodies are affected by substance abuse
- Identify how substance abuse can negatively affect their lives
- Distinguish myths from facts about substances and substance abuse
- Lesson 12: Norms and Attitudes
- Recognize that the majority of people their age do not use substances
- Clarify their attitudes about alcohol and other drug abuse
- Generate a personal commitment not to use alcohol and other drugs for the next year
- Lesson 13: Making Good Decisions
- Apply the Action Steps to making decisions about avoiding substance abuse
- Understand how friends can support each other to remain substance-free