New Hampshire Leads The Country In School Safety By Expanding Social And Emotional Learning

NEWTOWN, Conn., July 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement (https://www.jesselewischooselove.org/) is thrilled to be recommended by Governor Chris Sununu as New Hampshire's leading social and emotional learning (SEL) program. 

The Governor's School Safety Preparedness Task Force presented Gov. Chris Sununu with their findings, which comes after 90 days and more than 1,000 hours of research and discussion on the most pressing issues involving school safety and security.  One of the most important recommendations in the report is the need to expand SEL.

"I've had the honor of working with Scarlett Lewis, who is the mother of Jesse Lewis, victim of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting.  She is a national leader in SEL as the creator of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Enrichment Program.  New Hampshire will provide a backbone of support through Scarlett's program. We are adding in these proactive and preventative measures not only for violence, but for addiction, suicide, and the toxic anxiety that has plagued our school children for too long," Sununu said.

All of the scientific evidence shows that children who have social and emotional learning get better grades and test scores, higher attendance and graduation rates, better classroom and school climate, increased positive relationships and connections, less stress and anxiety, less behavioral issues, and less bullying. There is research following kindergartners all the way into adulthood that found kids who had social and emotional learning have less substance abuse, less mental illness, less incarceration, less violence and even less divorce rates.  Additionally, employers find emotional intelligence (EQ) more valuable than IQ when hiring due to the fact that a candidate with higher EQ is generally a better team player, more engaged and committed.   

"We are so grateful to Governor Sununu and his team for recognizing the need to implement internal safety in order to get to the root cause of why a student would want to harm another student and/or educator.  Students want to cause harm to others because they are disconnected, lack resilience and emotional management.  These are skills that can be taught with social and emotional learning.  SEL cultivates school safety from the inside out by addressing the cause," Scarlett Lewis said.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Sarah Stabile
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SOURCE Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement