_Many kids suffer in silence, feeling isolated, alone and afraid. Ultimately, they see themselves as inferior to others. They try to escape the pain any way they know how, through bullying; self-harm; approval/attention-seeking; promiscuity; drugs; junk food; obsessive use of the Internet, computer and/or video games; alcohol; tobacco; over-eating/under-eating; and many other habitual escape devices.  And for some, suicide seems the only way out.

What if there was ONE PROGRAM that addressed all of these issues? What if that program focused on the common causes of all destructive habits and addictive behaviors (including bullying) and incorporated a COMMON SOLUTION rooted in HEALTH EDUCATION AND CHARACTER EDUCATION PRINCIPLES utilizing THE POWER OF COMMUNITY? As addictions authority, Dr. Gabor Mate says, “Addiction Is a universal process.”  In other words, all addictive patterns have common causes and processes.

What if that program PREVENTED AND REDUCED SUICIDE, BULLYING, SELF-HARM, AND ALL ADDICTIONS (not just food, drugs, alcohol and tobacco) through focusing on healthy habits of thought and action?

What if there were a community created within your school, where any kid, no matter what their problems, knew they finally fit in – that they were no longer alone? Where, instead of being reminded of what they believe is wrong with them, they were constantly acknowledged and validated for what they did right? A group that they really wanted to be a part of, and could create themselves!

That program is the Power of Choice Habit Mastery School Program.

Although our programs are delivered for any audience, the school version of the Power of Choice Habit Mastery Program is customized for high schools and middle schools, and serves as a train-the-trainer session for teachers and other school staff, who self-select themselves to participate in the program as equals with the students, who have also self-selected themselves. Both adults and youth thus experience the Power of Choice by self-selecting themselves to participate in the program!!

Educators have reported that one of the many benefits of our customized school-based programs is that they help entire school communities (youth, parents, teachers and their caregivers)  reduce, break free of – and prevent – unwanted habits and addictions of all sorts.  We’ve also been told that they prevent unwanted habits from turning into addictions.

It is true that the program teaches young peole self-efficacy, but the profound results come through accessing the miraculous power of community that already exists with them. The program does not breed co-dependence and does not depend on us for it to get results after we have set it up.

The full day school program, with 28 days of follow-up, provides a self-sustaining structure which results in  a community that the student and adult participants create together within their school – a community of people (young and old, teachers, peers, secretaries, janitors, bus drivers, principals) wanting to support one another in becoming Habit Masters. 

The community who engages in this program consists of people who choose to be there for themselves (not because someone else thinks they need to change).  They have chosen to put their attention on creating and supporting others who want to build positive habits for themselves – as opposed to giving energy and focus to their negative habits!!

The Power of CHoice Habit Mastery Program, after being delivered during school hours, is also offered to the entire community as an evening or weekend session in order to expand the reach, in the spirit of my commitment that no one gets left behind. 

I extend the program because I know that the most effective way to effect positive change in kids is to offer access to positive change to those people our kids are bonded to and have relationships with and who have the greatest influence on them, including their teachers and parents.  Offering this program to the adults in their lives enables the adults to support the kids by being an example of the change. 

What happens when some kids try to make changes in their school community is that those changes get undone and are sometimes undermined because their family has a greater influence on them than the power of the community at their school. 

For some kids, the power of their family can be a very dark and destructive force.  This is not meant to blame the parents!  They are doing the best they can with the tools they were given by their parents.  And often times those adults are suffering and hurting because of their own issues, habits and addictions.  Many times, these adults DO WANT TO CHANGE!!  In fact, I find that, of the parents that show up to my evening and weekend sessions, more of them choose to participate in the Habit Mastery 28-day follow-up program than their kids do in the school introductory sessions: about 3 times more adults than teens want and choose to be part of the program . 

Admittedly, that has a lot to do with the fact that the parents that show up to the introductory Keynote are doing so because they have already self-identified as having some sort of a problem in their lives.  At first they think the problem has to do with their kids, but they soon discover that the problem may possibly originate in them.  In the case of the kids, they are expected to come to the Keynote Assembly, as it is part of their school day (so choice is less obvious), but everything after that is a choice for them.  

As a result of participation in this program, many people reduce and stop specific unwanted habit(s).  Based on self-reports, the success rate is close to 90%. What matters most is that participants exercised the Power of Choice for themselves.  They got to CHOOSE – and that is why it works.  Without people first owning their choice 100%, change does not last. When choice comes first, change lasts!

The program is delivered through Power of Choice Wellness Inc., and is also supported by the non-profit organization Addiction Free Youth as a project of the Seeds of Hope Foundation. 

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Each of the following sections of the Power of Choice Habit Mastery School Program is like a funnel where students choose for themselves to move forward to the next steps or not, depending on their level of commitment and need for support to enhance their lives. By the end of the day, students weed themselves down to a small committed group that have freely chosen to form a 28-day Habit Mastery club in your school -- and to teach that program to others that want to join later.

1. Keynote Assembly is customized to address and impact the primary issues you are dealing with at your school. (Length: Can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes) At the end of the keynote presentation, students with unwanted or bad habits of any sort are invited to attend an information session that teaches how to break free or reduce unwanted habits. You can count on between 5-10% of the keynote assembly audience choosing to participate in the next session.

(If your school would like this percentage to be even higher, students who do not see themselves as having unwanted or bad habits can also be invited to attend. Please call us to discuss how that would work 416-424-1200)

Students choose to attend with the understanding that at NO TIME are they asked or encouraged to talk about what their specific unwanted habit is. Their issues can be anything from video games, bullying, texting, television, procrastination, internet use, sugar or junk-food consumption to cigarette smoking, alcohol, marijuana or any other avoidance behavior or habit that they want to stop or reduce.

2. Habit Mastery Seminar: Tools and Tips session that lets interested students and adult participants learn more about the possible causes of their own unwanted habits - and which positive habits they can replace them with - and why!

Typically, the students who attend will be a combination of some of the high-risk kids in your school struggling with low self-esteem and acting out in a number of destructive habits and behaviours (including bullying) as well as kids that seem to be doing well in school but have a commitment to improvement or change in their life.

3. Habit Mastery Action Plan Workshop for those who after learning how to develop new habits realize that -- for them -- knowing what to do is not enough. Participants are put in groups of 3-4 and go to work on scheduling their commitments for the 28 day Healthy Habits program and setting up an accountability structure to support them in achieving their promises. (2.5 hours)

4. 28-Day Habit Mastery Support Program is set up by the end of the school day and consists of one weekly 30 minute group meeting. NOTE: Adult participants are NOT chosen by your school. A highly effective process of attracting, identifying and selecting between 1-4 adults from your school community is done before we agree to deliver the program at your school. Call to find out how this works 416-424-1200.

5. After-School Train-the-Trainer Session and ongoing staff support for adult Participant Leaders of the 28-day program. The teaching of the program continues throughout the full school day. When school is dismissed, students are told that if they would like to stay after school to learn how to lead the follow-up group meetings, they are welcomed to join in on the next session, and receive a Habit Mastery program manual.

Adult Participants have already agreed - as a condition of their participation in the program - to stay after school for one hour for this training. Additionally, the adult participants have agreed to having at least one of them be on a weekly 20-30 minute coaching call for the following four weeks.

6. The Habit Mastery & Power of Choice Evening or Weekend Session for Parents

After presenting to the school, we can also present an information session -- or the entire program - to parents, or generally to adults in the community. When parents learn what drives their own negative habits and take steps to create healthier habits, it can have a tremendous impact on their kids. It also increases the impact that their kids get from the 28 day program at school, if they've chosen to take part.

Almost identical to the program offered to kids, this session is different only for the first hour. The keynote presentation is shorter in order to allow time for an open question and answer session where adults can learn how to best support their kids.

You helped us see how we all have bad habits of some sort that are addictive to us. A couple of parents even opened up about their own addictive personalities, and they were trying to come to grips with this. I firmly believe that by helping some of those parents, you are helping their kids who may have addiction problems. If a parent decides to take some action that changes their life for the better, it might just give their kid what they need to make that decision too.  Darrell Hall, Principal, St. Thomas Moore Collegiate, Burnaby, British Columbia

You made people very comfortable right off the start and you gave them ownership of the evening by asking them what they wanted to accomplish as a result of being there. Your open-ness, and blatant honesty, caused people to be quite comfortable to share honestly their stories, and the difficult issues they were dealing with. It was great because their was a variety of things that people came for - and you covered it all!. Carolyn Thorpe, Vice Chair, Parent Association Counsel, Kelly Road Secondary, Prince George, British Columbia

We would like to thank you very much for coming out today and tonight to help our community. It was very much appreciated and at the parent forum/workshop my wife and I, and I'm sure others as well, came out with information that will help us prevent (addictions) and hopefully be of help to others. Yves Blouin, School Council Chair, Hearst High School and Clayton Brown Public School

I just attended your talks in Burnaby, BC and found them incredibly powerful. You might remember me - I am the teacher who spoke in the evening session and am a recovering bulimic and cutter. I know that the students were touched by your story so I wanted to thank you on their behalf. I was interested to see how your evening talk would be different and I am glad that I attended. Your honesty and your willingness to share even the darkest moments of your addiction are what make you credible and inspiring. Please know that you gave me a renewed spirit in the fight to recover.  Lisa

The parents were quite pleased with your presentation. A lot of us came in looking for that "fix-it", that "cure" -- "what do we do?" -- "How do we deal with it?", and your response was unexpected and unconventional, and you were absolutely right.I spoke to our school council chair and he said your talk was a wake up call for parents to look at themselves and their parenting skills - to communicate with their kids in a positive, loving way.

Personally, when I was listening to you, you really hit my heart. You had me personally evaluate how I deal with children, how I listen, and how I recognize and value their issues. Your talk had me honestly re-evaluate how I give my own kids, and students, my time, energy and support so that they don't have to go down the road of addictions.

One of the health unit experts commented that your message was very necessary for the community to hear. As a community, we just can't hide this kind of thing. We have a feeling in our community that people do not want to recognize problems, or they don't want to face issues.

As a presenter you were really able to reach each one of us individually so that we could recognize what you and other addicts go through because you talked about yourself as a young person and the difficulties you went through. You expressed that very well. You expressed it in such a way that it moved us and it created images in our head of things we certainly don't want to do as parents or as educators, as adults guiding our community, our youth and our homes.I was just really, really pleased with your presentation. Keep up the good fight.
Wayne McKinnon, Principal, Hearst High School, Hearst High School, Hearst, Ontario

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Although the following testimonials tend to emphasize results related to tobacco, drugs, and alcohol, the actual results from the program cross over to all unproductive habits, including bullying, compulsive internet, video games, lying, stealing, etc. We never ask kids for their testimonials because we have promised them that they would never have to disclose them. These comments are from school personnel who can see visible changes in their students, sometimes learning about their students overcoming numerous bad habits in specific ways.