Our Cause

Student to student impact exists in every school, as teens are more likely to listen to their peers than any other age group. Most often, this comes in the form of negative peer pressure: students influencing other students to fit in by drinking or cheating or being sexually active.

We know there are students in every school who are making good choices with their lives – students who are avoiding drugs and sex – students who are living a lifestyle of integrity. The problem is that these students often feel alone in the positive decisions they are making…

…but they are not alone. What if these students could join together and strengthen each other in their stand for values and integrity? And what if, by coming together, they could actually create a movement that counters the negative peer pressure that seems to govern their schools?

This is the mission of Teen Advisors: to empower students to impact their culture with integrity for Life through positive peer pressure. When students commit together to stand for integrity, the influence and momentum of peer pressure is leveraged for good, so the effectiveness of student to student impact is multiplied! We believe that the students who are choosing to "live real" by making integrity-based decisions are "really living."

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Classroom Sessions

Teen Advisors has developed a one-of-a-kind method for highly effective peer-mentoring known as "Classroom Sessions." A classroom session is an interactive, discussion-based presentation where older students speak to the underclassmen at their schools about the difficult issues that students deal with on a regular basis. The upperclassmen lead the younger students in activities that teach about having a lifestyle of integrity, and they share from pesonal experience on how they have dealt with these various issues. Some of the topics covered include:

• peer pressure
• alcohol & drugs
• dating & sexual abstinence
• loneliness & depression
• stress
• relationships with parents & friends
• self-worth

What makes this method so successful?

Through classroom sessions, Teen Advisors actually leverage the powerful force of peer pressure in a positive way. The underclassmen have role models right in their own schools confirming for them that not everyone is having sex outside of marriage; that not everyone is getting drunk every weekend; that you CAN face and overcome issues like stress and low self-worth in middle & high school!

For instance, let's consider the issue of being drug-free: by the time a typical student reaches the 9th grade, he has heard a drug-free message dozens of times in a myriad of ways - TV commercials, motivational speakers, drug-free youth rallies, drug-free school curriculum, etc. He knows that drugs are bad for him!

What's different about the Teen Advisor method is that those speaking to him about being drug-free are his classmates at school, his friends, his teammates! Students who have made a pledge to be drug-free, and because he knows them and goes to school with them, this 9th grader sees daily how their lives back up their word.

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The Contract

Every student involved must sign a contract stating that they commit to:

• model a lifestyle of integrity in all areas of life
• remain totally drug-free and sexually abstinent
• be accountable to their fellow students who have also signed the same contract.

The contract gives credibility to our message. By signing it, the students who present classroom sessions are not only talking about integrity-based living, but they have also given their word to model a lifestyle of integrity.

"The most important part of TAs is staying true to our contract. It separates us from everyone else." Chas J., 11th grader

"The contract helps me keep my values, because the real you comes out when no one else is looking." Micah C., 10th grader

What happens if I break my contract?

If someone breaks their contract, they go before the Honor Council – a small group of TAs who have been elected by their fellow TAs to that position. The Honor Council provides accountability for TAs who have broken their contract. In a loving environment, the individual talks through what happened, and the Honor Council members encourage the student with ideas for upholding their contract in the future.

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What Students are Saying

Velocity Middle School program

"Velocity is a good way to meet new people, grow closer to God, and be a good influence for people younger than me" - David T., 8th grader

"Being in Velocity has taught me responsibility. It has also taught me to be respectful to my peers. Being committed to Velocity isn't just something to do, it is helping others make the right choice." - Rachel C., 8th grader

"It is important for 6th graders to have positive role models and friends to look up to. It is also important for them to understand that there are a whole bunch of people who don't do drugs or smoke but still have a great time in life." - Emily A., 8th grader

"I have always tried to do the right thing by not doing drugs and other harmful things, but it was always a little hard to do because I always felt like I was all alone in doing the right thing. Now that I am a part of Velocity and I know that I am not alone, I really feel like I can make a difference." - Samantha L., 8th grader

"It is organizations like Velocity that can literally change the world. We are the next generation, and it is good that we have programs to make the world a better place." - Scott C., 8th grader

Teen Advisors High School Program

"The classroom sessions are so powerful. I really feel as though we are helping people with our words and actions. It is an honor to be a TA" - Ashleigh N., 11th grader

"Teen Advisors is the perfect place for me. I can act crazy, become stronger in my faith, hang out with people who share the same beliefs and morals as I do, and have fun all at the same time!" - Katy C., 11th grader

"Teen Advisors is extremely important to me. When things get rocky and things go wrong you have a soft place to land. When things are great, it is nice just to be with people that like to have a good time like I do without any outside pressures." - Jennifer R., 11th grader

"I think the absolute world of this program. There are too many students today who believe that drugs and alcohol are the norm. Too many kids believe that the "odd ones" don't smoke pot and don't drink alcohol. Teen Advisors proves to those of us who choose to stay away from those things that we are not the odd ones. We are not weird or uncool for abstaining from things we don't find moral. TAs lets us know that giving into peer pressure is not necessary. We can stand together and know that we are not odd for believing the way we do." - Bekah C., 12th grader

"Teen Advisors is an organization that has had a great impact on my life and I will carry the values from it with me my whole life." - Stephen K., 12th grader

"Teen Advisors has grown me and molded me to be a person not afraid to show my character & integrity. I'm a stronger, bolder person because of the encouragement I've received from TAs." - Addie H., college freshman

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Our History

In 1987, the Teen Advisor program was born out of the heart of one mother who was burdened by what she saw happening in the lives of high school students. She saw students, many who came from morally strong homes, making extremely poor and sometimes even dangerous decisions all because the tide of negative peer pressure was simply becoming too much for them to bear. The idea formed to gather together a group of teens who would commit to be positive roles models for their peers by promising not to drink, smoke, or do drugs. These older teens, called Teen Advisors, would go into the classrooms of younger teens to talk about the decisions they had made and share their experiences on topics that affected teens. The goal was to turn negative peer pressure into positive peer pressure and change the lives of the students in the school, and IT WORKED! The first group of 4 Teen Advisors grew to 12, and then to 42, and the group kept growing. There were plenty of teens who were willing to stand up for the right things; they just needed to know that they were not alone and that someone their age would stand with them.

After the first group of Teen Advisors was established in 1987, the program continued to grow and expand into other high schools. A national expansion began in 1992, the same year that "Focus on the Family" magazine wrote an article about Teen Advisors. After the publication of that article, we received 2500 requests for our material from across the nation. Shortly after the "Focus on the Family" article, the Teen Advisor program drew the attention of President George Bush and received a "point of light" award. Since then, the program has continued to expand nationally.

In 2002, our organization responded to the cries of a multitude of parents, teachers, and administrators to begin a similar program in middle schools. In response to this need, the Velocity program was born. The concepts and principles learned through working with high school students in the Teen Advisor program were applied and appropriately modified to create the Velocity program for middle school students. While Teen Advisors are at work in the high schools, Velocity students are at work in the middle schools. Velocity Students (7th and 8th graders) and Teen Advisors (10th, 11th, and 12th graders) all sign contracts committing to be positive role models who are drug, alcohol, tobacco, and inhalant free. What began as a mother's desire for something better for students has been growing strong for over two decades. What began with just 4 teenagers in one school now reaches hundreds of middle school and high school students in schools across America!

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Our vision is to give the gift…

The gift of choice to every student:

• Freedom from the trap of conformity
• Strength from the bonds of authentic friendship

We have touched the lives of over 35,000 students in 21 years. In the next 3 years, we envision touching the lives of another 10,000 students

The gift of peace to every parent:

• Relief because their children live with a constant safety net
• Satisfaction because their children model courage and lead others

We envision thousands of parents volunteering weekly, contributing monthly and celebrating yearly the work of Teen Advisors because of the difference it makes to their family life.

The gift of transformation to every community:

• We imagine “integrity life-boats” in every high school and middle school to rescue kids from a sea of moral apathy.
• We see “oak tree teenagers” standing tall against the winds of peer pressure.
• We can feel the moral fabric of cities and communities growing stronger over years of supporting the character development of students.