The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater New Haven (BGCGNH) is dedicated to empowering teens by focusing on their social and emotional development. Recognizing the profound impact of the pandemic and the growing pressures from academics and social media, BGCGNH is committed to fostering an environment where youth can build essential skills, form meaningful connections, and grow into responsible, caring adults.
The pandemic’s lingering effects created a need to increase opportunities for youth to connect with friends and reduce stress. Meanwhile, academic pressure and over exposure to social media has led to 44% of youth nationwide reporting feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
In response to youth’s needs, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater New Haven programming enables all youth to reach their full potential and commits to reinforcing social-emotional skills (SEL) that can fundamentally alter the trajectory of their life.
Our focus is to help youth develop essential SEL that promotes healthy relationships with peers and adults, cultivates positive decision-making, helps them communicate effectively, and confront challenging situations. By integrating SEL into all programs, we ensure youth develop the skills they need to become productive, caring, responsible citizens.
BGCGNH promotes SEL through explicit programming and interactions with Youth Development Professionals who model those same skills, integrating both “caught” and “taught” opportunities. Formal skills are taught and embedded in targeted programs, while informal staff modeling and peer interactions serve as opportunities to “catch” these skills. This combination of formal and informal skill practice increases youths’ competence and confidence to apply these skills in real-life settings.
Our Club provides routine, consistency, and fun, while trusted adults create a safety net for youth – all while combating loneliness and reducing screen time. Our programs that promote SEL include both our Triple Play program, which keeps youth moving, and SMART Moves. SMART Moves focuses on building the key attitudes and skills necessary for youth to make decisions about their health, and provides content aligned social-emotional skills necessary for healthy decision-making. This dedication is reflected in the program’s name – SMART is an acronym for Skills Mastery and Resilience Training.
Want your student to benefit from our SEL programs? Learn more and become a member today!