How Do At-Risk Youth Evaluate the Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Impacts of A Mindful Choice Curriculum?

• In Event: Centering Youth Voices and Experiences in Social and Emotional learning Research

Abstract

Objective and Theoretical Framework
Mind EVOKE™ Mindful Young Minds (MYM), designed by co-authors from the Mind Focused Coaching team, is an innovative program to enhance students’ Social and Emotional Resilience (SER). MYM aims to foster the traditional competencies of social emotional learning specifically in the context of decision-making, ‘helping children make mindful choices’. The curriculum was largely informed by Positive Psychology, with a goal of promoting human flourishing and emphasizing mental wellbeing and self-efficacy (Phan et al., 2020; Samavi, 2022). The curriculum aims to equip children with cognitive tools (e.g., focus on their perceived strengths rather than limitations or deficits), empowering children to improve their decision-making capabilities and respond rather than react to life’s challenges. Given the added difficulties often reported from working with at-risk youth such as disengagement and resistance (Lewis & McCann, 2009), the curriculum was adapted to specifically cater to the needs of a community non-profit organization in Pittsburgh that works with such youth from low-income communities, including those with academic struggles and risky behaviors.

Methodology and Findings
Participants were recruited from [name of program] in Spring 2025, an afterschool program in [name of city] that primarily serves youth from low-income communities, has a predominantly African American population, with an aim to foster their social and emotional learning. A total of 21 students (Age: 6-14 years) were initially recruited for the study. Due to challenges in attendance, only 15 students remained enrolled at the conclusion of implementation that occurred over a span of a 12-week period.

Participants were exposed to biweekly, 30-minute activity sessions, including creative icons displayed in their class to remind them of the choices available to them. Students were interviewed at the end of the intervention. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Across interviews, participants identified lessons that were more practical such as “Let It Go,” “Think Things Through (3T),” “Red Door/Green Door”, “Impulse Control”, and “Sleep”, as the most positively received. Many students reported that the curriculum was relevant to their lived experiences and helped them with managing real-life scenarios—e.g., at school in regulating behavior during sports, at home when handling sibling conflict. Importantly, this curriculum also gave students the language to describe their internal experiences. Feedback also revealed challenges and suggestions for improvement such as some lessons feeling too school-like/theoretical. There was also a gradual process of buy-in. Some students reported initial resistance or boredom, only to later find value in the sessions.

Significance
The present study serves as a preliminary glimpse into how at-risk youth perceive a social emotional learning curriculum, including the benefits and challenges of implementing at a community organization. Student feedback highlighted specific aspects of the curriculum that had a meaningful impact on their emotional regulation and decision-making. At the same time, the youth’s feedback regarding challenges and structural improvements provides a roadmap for further refining and scaling the curriculum in next iterations so that it can better serve such diverse educational settings.

Author

• Manisha Naresh Nagpal, Duquesne University