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A health promotion program, SMART Moves: Core helps young people build the social-emotional skills to make healthy decisions and avoid risky behaviors. Eleven sequential, age-appropriate sessions cover effective communication, decision-making and refusal skills.
Session 2
Youth will be able to describe goals for their future. Youth will be able to connect their goals to healthy decision-making.
Session 3
Youth will be able to describe individuals in their lives who model positive, healthy behavior. Youth will be able to identify individuals in their lives they can talk to about their health.
Session 4
Youth will be able to demonstrate active listening. Youth will practice asking questions related to a health issue.
Session 5
Youth will be able to demonstrate assertive communication. Youth will be able to differentiate between verbal and nonverbal communication.
Session 6
Youth will be able to analyze influences on their decisions. Youth will be able to identify potential positive and negative consequences. Youth will be able to describe how their health decisions impact their future goals.
Session 8
Youth will be able to describe the components of an effective refusal.
Session 9
Youth will be able to demonstrate the components of an effective refusal.
To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) focuses on three priority outcome areas: Academic Success, Healthy Lifestyles, and Good Character and Citizenship.
SMART Moves: Core is a targeted program in BGCA’s Health and Wellness core program area that supports Healthy Lifestyles. It builds the foundational social-emotional and health skills that enable youth to make healthy decisions. People with better social-emotional skills report participating in fewer risky behaviors, including substance use and smoking.i, ii To address this, successful prevention programs should focus on building social-emotional skills that serve as protective factors in youth and support them in avoiding risky behaviors. Programs should focus specifically on self-control, emotional awareness, communication and problem solving.iii
Many health programs only identify and address risk and protective factors that are most associated with a young person’s ability to avoid risky behavior. This version of SMART Moves utilizes a health promotion approach, which also builds youth attitudes and skills that support healthy decision-making. This new approach incorporates youth voice and choice in their ability to make healthy decisions.
SMART Moves: Core is a health promotion program, focused on building the key attitudes and skills necessary for youth to make decisions about their health. Although health education is typically considered a school-based topic, health education requirements, content and quality vary amongst school districts. Some of the biggest gaps in content are related to risky behaviors such as substance use, tobacco use and sexual health.iv This means Boys & Girls Clubs and Youth Centers can play an important role in providing the knowledge and skills related to these specific health topics and help youth practice healthy decision-making. SMART Moves bridges this gap by providing asset-based health promotion content aligned with the most important social-emotional skills necessary for healthy decision-making. This is reflected in the name of the program: SMART is an acronym for Skills Mastery and Resilience Training.
SMART Moves: Core is one in a suite of program resources that can be used to help youth develop healthy decision-making attitudes and skills. Each program resource reflects contemporary youth development best practices in a flexible format that allows Clubs to customize learning to the needs and interests of their youth and communities. These program resources are: SMART Moves: Emotional Wellness, SMART Moves: Core and topic-specific SMART Moves Modules. SMART Moves: Core is intended to be implemented after SMART Moves: Emotional Wellness but before any of the SMART Moves Modules. These program resources are described below.
SMART Moves: Emotional Wellness
This targeted program focuses on positive coping strategies that build three cognitive-behavior skills most linked to helping youth avoid negative thought patterns and negative behaviors. These skills are self-regulation, impulse control and stress management. Participating youth will build an effective toolbox for self-management and coping. Once they master these foundational skills, youth will be ready to apply the knowledge and practice the behaviors covered in SMART Moves: Core.
SMART Moves: Core
This targeted health promotion program focuses on building social-emotional skills such as effective communication, decision-making and refusal skills. As such, the program addresses many of the risk and protective factors that may determine whether young people engage in risky health behaviors such as e-cigarette and opioid use.
The goal of SMART Moves: Core is to influence attitudes and teach essential skills that enable youth to make healthy decisions about risky behaviors. As a result of participation, youth will be able to:
SMART Moves Modules
SMART Moves Modules use and apply the skills from SMART Moves: Core to specific health behaviors. These modules will dive deeply into the health behavior, risks associated with the behavior, and build the knowledge, attitudes and skills of youth to avoid the behavior.
Health and Wellness Core Program Area
Health and Wellness programs and initiatives provide opportunities for youth to focus explicitly on building social-emotional skills; these skills include their ability to foster positive relationships with themselves and others, regulate emotions and solve problems. In addition, youth build knowledge, attitudes and skills in healthy decision-making by building social-emotional skills most closely linked to healthy decision-making, and by then exploring a range of health topics and behaviors, including substance use, sexual behavior and violence. Targeted programs and high-yield activities in this area are linked to the Healthy Lifestyles priority outcome area.
Health and Wellness Outcome Statement: Youth will build resilience and health skills to make informed decisions about their own health, leading to positive health outcomes. Youth development practices that support teaching and learning are core to the quality of Health and Wellness programs. Effective Health and Wellness programs, when facilitated with high-quality youth development practices, help youth develop the attitudes, behaviors and skills needed to make healthy decisions about their own wellness.
Health and Wellness Attitudes and Skills: In order to make healthy decisions, youth need to build not only attitudes and skills related to health behaviors, but also social-emotional skills. All Health and Wellness programs, including those in the SMART Moves suite, are designed to build the social-emotional skills most closely aligned with healthy decision-making and positive health outcomes.
| Healthy Decision-Making Attitudes and Skills | |
| Media Literacy | Analyzing media for accuracy and impact on self-image |
| Positive Health Beliefs | Belief in the importance of avoiding risky health behaviors |
| Positive View of Future | Having high aspirations for the future |
| Resistance Skills | Resisting negative peer pressure and unhealthy situations |
| Health Communication | Talking with adults and peers about health questions and decisions |
| Social-Emotional Skills | |
| Collaboration With Peers | Working together toward shared goals with youth and adults |
| Communication | Sharing information both verbally and nonverbally and listening well to others |
| Empathy | Ability to understand and share in feelings of others |
| Evaluating | Process used to make informed decisions and identify appropriate options |
| Identifying Emotions | Expressing feelings |
| Identifying and Solving Problems | Noticing problems and working to find a solution |
| Impulse Control | Controlling the desire to react immediately |
| Self-Awareness | Recognizing one’s feelings, needs, thoughts and influence on behavior |
| Self-Efficacy | Perceived capability to do a specific task |
| Stress Management | Responses to stress |
Youth make decisions about health based on many internal factors, such as perceived ability to communicate effectively or personal positive health beliefs. Research tells us that social and environmental factors also have an impact on decision-making. In addition to specific attitudes and skills targeted in specific programs, the Health and Wellness core program area seeks to address and strengthen the social and environmental aspects that contribute to healthy decision-making.
By facilitating the SMART Moves suite in a group setting and creating opportunities for youth to share their values and attitudes with each other, it directly shapes young people’s positive peer influence on each other. Additionally, by providing supplementary Family and Caregiver Resources that include discussion guides, extension activities and on-site activities, youth are able to better build health communication skills and external support for their healthy choices. Communication with trusted adults is linked with young people’s ability to avoid risky health behaviors.
Health and Wellness Programs and Resources
BGCA has developmentally appropriate programs and resources for all age groups.v Please note that the SMART Moves suite of targeted programs is divided by grade level rather than age. Positive peer influence plays a large role in healthy decision-making and therefore, SMART Moves: Core seeks to address the daily influence of near-peers through grade-level groupings. If your Club or Youth Center divides youth by age, we recommend using the Grades K-2 program with ages 6-8, the Grades 3-5 program with ages 9-11, and the Grades 6-8 program with ages 12-14.
| Middle Childhood Ages 6 to 9 |
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| Late Childhood Ages 10 to 12 |
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| Early Adolescence Ages 13 to 15 |
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| Teen Ages 16 to 18 |
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| Wraparound Resources |
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Mapping SMART Moves: Core to National Standards
Health and Wellness programs are aligned to the Common Core State Standards as well as the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning Standards (CASEL). These standards are specific, developmentally appropriate learning goals that describe a skill that youth should be able to do after learning certain content. The Common Core is a set of academic standards in language arts and mathematics that detail rigorous learning goals by grade level. It also references “Core Habits of Mind,” which describe key ways of thinking that scholars who have met the Common Core standards demonstrate. The Common Core has been adopted by 41 states as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. The Common Core standards don’t explicitly address social and emotional learning (SEL), so Health and Wellness programs have also been mapped to the Core SEL Standards as defined by CASEL.
SMART Moves: Core is mapped by session for each age group. For a full list of the mapped standards please see the Appendix tab of this collection.
For more information about the Common Core and CASEL standards, visit BGCA.net and search for: "Mapping Our Programs to National Standards.”
Youth Development Professionals’ Role in Healthy Decision-Making
Positive youth development is an intentional approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive. It recognizes, uses and enhances young people’s strengths, and promotes positive outcomes by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.vii
Youth development practices that support teaching and learning are core to the quality of Health and Wellness programs. Effective Health and Wellness programs, when facilitated with high-quality youth development practices, will help youth develop the attitudes, behaviors, and skills needed to become effective and engaged learners who are on track to graduate with a plan for the future.
Youth development professionals can help all youth build resiliency skills when they:
Youth development professionals can help all youth become more effective healthy decision-makers when they:
Positive Youth Development Supports Character and Social-Emotional Development
All Boys & Girls Club programs offer opportunities for youth development professionals to model, recognize, reinforce and reflect on character development. Positive youth development provides direction for how you engage with and model behavior for youth. You get to shape the lives of young people every day. As a result, you set the expectations and show youth what essential character traits (e.g., caring, citizenship, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness) mean, and how they look. These character traits come to life when youth practice social-emotional skills like teamwork, conflict management and emotional regulation.
Youth can start to build character using “caught and taught” approaches. Youth “catch” social-emotional skills when they observe youth development professionals modeling them, and when they interact with peers. Youth can also be “taught” skills to build good character when the skills are explicitly introduced and practiced through program sessions and activities. Use this formula to understand how character develops over time:
Youth Development Professionals Model Good Character + Youth Practice Skills Regularly = Character Development
Youth development professionals facilitating the SMART Moves suite can model good character in the way they support all youth, offer feedback rather than criticism, and encourage honesty and responsibility.
To build character traits, include many opportunities for youth to practice the social-emotional skills embedded in SMART Moves: Core. These include skills related to:
When character development is present:
When character development is absent:
For more information, visit BGCA.net and search for "Program Basica BLUEprint," see pg 22: “Practicing Social-Emotional Skills to Achieve Character Development.” It will show you the specific social-emotional skills young people should practice to demonstrate positive behaviors indicative of the six essential character traits.
Practice Positive Youth Development to Create Inclusive Environments
Inclusion is a core component to build a safe, positive youth environment. In order to fulfill our mission, Clubs and Youth Centers must create safe, positive and inclusive environments for all youth and teens – including every race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability, socio-economic status and religion. By creating inclusive environments, we improve the overall experience for all young people. When youth development professionals use positive youth development practices, they help ensure that all youth:
As you implement SMART Moves: Core, consider strategies that help youth feel affirmed, safe and engaged with Club experiences. To download more information on building and sustaining an inclusive environment, visit BGCA.net and search for "Program Basics BLUEprint."
Although the SMART Moves: Core program does not introduce or cover sensitive topics like abuse or child safety, asking youth to discuss their emotions has the potential to elicit youth responses that require staff follow-up. Due to the nature of this material, BGCA strongly recommends the use of the following best practice implementation guidelines.
Prioritize Physical and Emotional Safety: Before facilitating the any SMART Moves sessions or related modules, it will be essential to review your Club or Youth Center’s safety policies, and be prepared to respond and report, should youth disclose past or current abuse, or urgent mental health issues. For immediate safety and life-threatening mental health concerns, call 911. For concerns of past abuse or ongoing abuse, neglect or endangerment, follow your state’s mandated reporting requirements. In addition, make sure to report safety-related incidents according to your organizational policies, and use the BGCA’s Safety Helpline for additional support at 866-607-SAFE.
For more information that can support you in creating physically and emotionally safe program environments, visit the Safety page on BGCA.net for the latest resources on:
If you have questions about using these resources in your Club or Youth Center, or general safety questions, please reach out to the safety team at childsafety@bgca.org.
As you prepare to facilitate the SMART Moves: Core targeted program, you’ll see facilitator notes titled “Important Note About Emotional Safety” that serve as a reminder to listen closely to youth responses and follow-up with reporting or additional support as needed.
Seek Training to Support Implementation: Since this subject matter is related to identifying emotions and building effective coping strategies when youth feel a strong emotion, it may be beneficial to consider the ways in which trauma might impact young people’s understanding of emotion, and their emotional reactions to various situations. To develop an increased understanding of the varying backgrounds of youth, consider training in the following topics prior to facilitating the emotional wellness targeted program: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Trauma-Informed Care (TIC). For more information and free online TIC Trainings and Resources, visit the National Child Traumatic Stress Network at nctsn.org/resources/training. For more information on ACEs visit: CDC.gov.
Make Referrals, When Needed: The programs in the SMART Moves suite, especially SMART Moves: Emotional Wellness, are skill-building programs, not a therapy or counseling tool and should not be used in this way. Understanding your role and professional ability as a youth development staff is critical. Some sessions may cause youth to become emotional, share personal stories about past trauma, or even open up about their mental health. It is important to keep in mind that you are not expected to take on the role of a therapist or counselor, nor would it be ethical for you to do so. You should, however, be able to recognize when youth are disclosing abuse or another traumatic event, and to report and refer as appropriate. You are not alone in supporting Club youth. There are many caring adults and professionals available and able to provide support when necessary. If you have a social worker or therapist on staff, ask them to be available to step in if needed during or after the program. If you do not have a social worker or therapist on staff, consider familiarizing yourself with the local agencies in your area to make referrals when needed.
Use the following resources when making a referral:
Please refer to your state laws and organizational policies on how to discuss your mandated reporting obligations with young people. We encourage you to continue to build trusting and supportive relationships using high-quality youth development practices outlined in the BLUEPrint: To access, visit BGCA.net and search for “Program Basics BLUEprint.”
Create a Safe Space: Create a welcoming and comfortable environment by:
Before each session try saying something like, “This is a safe space where you are safe to feel and talk about your emotions and ask for help. All feelings are normal and healthy and there is no wrong way to feel. You are always welcome to pass if you are not comfortable sharing in front of the group. I am here to help if you want to talk about anything during or after program. Does anyone have any questions before we start?”
Grow In and Model Your Own Social-Emotional Development: Take time to reflect on your own social-emotional skills and identify your strengths and areas for growth by using the Personal Assessment and Reflection – SEL Competencies for School Leaders, Staff and Adults developed by CASEL. Create a plan for addressing your areas for growth and commit to working on it. Youth will look to you as a role model for how to talk about and process emotions, as well as how to cope with stressful situations. Be a leader in not only teaching the emotional wellness targeted program but modeling it in your everyday interactions.
SMART Moves: Core is an 11-session targeted program focused on building the attitudes and skills necessary for healthy decision-making. It is comprised of five units.
Unit 1: Positive View of Future – This unit focuses on building young people’s sense of their future, discussing healthy choices and their impact on future goals, and linking youth to adults in their community who can serve as supports in healthy decision-making.
Unit 2: Effective Communication – This unit builds young people’s skills in active listening, asking questions and being assertive in communication about health.
Unit 3: Decision-Making – This unit introduces youth to a three-step process for making decisions and applies it to a health context. Youth have opportunities to practice effective decision-making.
Unit 4: Resistance and Refusal Skills – This unit ties together young people’s skills in communication and decision-making and applies them to a process for refusing unhealthy behaviors. Youth have opportunities to practice using effective refusals.
Unit 5: Media Literacy – Youth evaluate reliable sources of health information, both in person and online, and think critically about media messages and their impact on their health decisions. Youth use opportunities to share positive health messages with others at the Club or Youth Center.
There is a version of the SMART Moves: Core targeted program for youth in Grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. Each session lasts between 45 and 60 minutes and includes all the components of a high-quality youth development session: a a Warm Welcome, Group Agreements, Community Builder, Main Activity, Reflection, Recogntion, and Closing and Transition.
Program sessions are designed sequentially. The same group of youth should remain together during program facilitation and participate in the units in the order they appear in the table of contents.
SMART Moves: Core must be implemented prior to any of the SMART Moves Modules. The content in the SMART Moves Modules is intended to expand upon and provide youth opportunities to practice skills learned in SMART Moves: Core – such as communication, decision-making and refusal skills – and apply them to specific health behaviors. Without first completing SMART Moves: Core, youth will not have learned the foundational skills to apply to various health contexts.
Targeted Program Guide – Overview | ||||
| Key: CB: Community Builder MA: Main Activity FR: Family and Caregiver Resource | ||||
| Grades K-2 | Grades 3-5 | Grades 6-8 | ||
| Session 1 | CB: Movement Circle MA: Building Our Group Agreements | CB: Movement Circle MA: Building Our Group Agreements | CB: Movement Circle MA: Building Our Group Agreements | |
| Unit 1 Positive View of Future | Session 2 Vision and Goals for Future Self | CB: Three Wishes MA: I’ve Got Big Plans | CB: Get to Know You Bingo MA: All About Me | CB: What Matters to Me? MA: Imagining the Future |
| Session 3 Identifying a Positive Support Network | CB: Superhero Clap MA: My Real-Life Superhero | CB: Marshmallow Toss MA: My People Mapping | CB: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? MA: Community Support Map | |
| Unit 2 Effective Communication | Session 4 Asking Health-Related Questions and Listening | CB: Betcha Didn’t Know! MA: You’ve Got My Attention FR: Extension Activity | CB: Famous Pairs! MA: You’ve Got My Attention FR: Extension Activity | CB: The Wright Family MA: Active Listening FR: Extension Activity |
| Session 5 Assertive Communication | CB: Cooperative Drawing MA: Speak Up, Speak Kindly | CB: Let’s Talk MA: What Would You Do? | CB: Open Fist MA: Assert Yourself! | |
| Unit 3 Decision-Making | Session 6 Decision-Making Framework | CB: Emoji Run MA: Think, Feel, Do | CB: Weather Report Check-In MA: What Happens Next? | CB: Who Do You Choose? MA: Dani’s Dilemma |
| Session 7 Practicing Decision-Making | CB: Would You Rather? MA: Decision-Making Magicians FR: Discussion Guide | CB: Healthy or Unhealthy? MA: Freeze! FR: Discussion Guide | CB: Rapid Decision-Making! MA: AMAZE-ing Decisions FR: Discussion Guide | |
| Unit 4 Resistance and Refusal Skills | Session 8 Steps to An Effective Refusal | CB: Healthy or Unhealthy? MA: How to Say No | CB: It’s OK to Say No MA: How to Say No | CB: What Does Peer Pressure Feel Like? MA: Saying No |
| Session 9 Practicing Refusal Steps | CB: Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop MA: I Can Say No! | CB: Mirror, Mirror MA: I Can Say No | CB: Have You Ever? MA: I Have the Power to Say No | |
| Unit 5 Media Literacy | Session 10 Reliable Source | CB: Where the Wind Blows MA: Who to Ask? | CB: Two Truths and a Lie MA: Sticker Vote! | CB: What’s Your Meme? MA: But Is It Verified? |
| Session 11 Media Messages | CB: What is it? MA: Make Your Own Health Message FR: On-Site Experience | CB: Commonalities MA: Sell that Message! FR: On-Site Experience | CB: Quick Commercial MA: How Do We See Ourselves? FR: On-Site Experience | |
Primary Audience
SMART Moves: Core is most impactful if delivered to a group that meets consistently. This allows youth to build relationships among the team as they get to know each other, and build their skills by experiencing scaffolded, sequential learning. The team of youth works together to establish a safe space to talk about their emotions, and build skills in self-regulation. Because of the vulnerability established as a part of Emotional Wellness, the program isn’t designed for youth to come in and out of it. Ideally, the group consists of 10-15 youth.
Format and Key Features:
Each session in SMART Moves: Core follows the same standard format, incorporating best practices in positive youth development. Facilitating the sessions in the format written is highly recommended to implement the program with fidelity. Each component of the session is briefly described below.
Session Modification
We encourage you to review each session thoroughly prior to facilitating. As you review, you may prefer to modify some of the activities to better include and reflect the cultural identities and learning needs of your youth. To support your adaptations, you’ll find suggestions labeled “Adaptation for Inclusion.” These notes call attention to places where you can better reflect the various identities of the youth in your Club or Youth Center. For example, changing names in a scenario or using photographs of your own youth as materials instead of the resources provided.
Additionally, you’ll find places where we have noted “Activity Variations,” which add a layer of engagement or materials to the targeted program content as a possible adaptation.
Use the Family and Caregiver Resources
Research shows that family communication about health contributes to young people’s ability to make healthy decisions.ix x BGCA has created supplementary resources for use with parents and caregivers. These resources are designed to create additional communication opportunities for families to talk together about the content in the SMART Moves program and invite families to share their values on health and wellness. Each program resource (Emotional Wellness, SMART Moves: Core and SMART Moves Modules) includes three types of family and caregiver resources.
Each of the family and caregiver resources is aligned with a particular SMART Moves session and is noted in the facilitator guide. We recommend inviting parents and families of youth participating in SMART Moves to a kickoff session at the start of the program and explaining the ways youth can benefit from using the family and caregiver resources outside of the Club.
| Family and Caregiver Resource | Corresponding Session |
| Healthy Conversations Travel Game Youth and families play a game in which they create opportunities to talk together about interesting and thoughtful topics. This activity will support youth skills in asking questions and seeking support from trusted adults. | Session 4: Active Listening |
| Decision-Making Discussion Guide Youth discuss and practice their decision-making strategies with their families. Includes opportunities for families to share how they could support decision-making. | Session 7: AMAZE-ing Decisions |
| Celebration Night Agenda Emphasize the value of promoting healthy lifestyles by inviting families to attend a Family Night in which they learn about and experience some of SMART Moves: Core, complete with youth presentations of what they’ve learned. | Session 11: Defining our Healthy |
Utilize the Program Evaluation Resources to Measure Local Impact
This program includes a suite of evaluation resources to help you measure the impact of SMART Moves: Core among youth in Grades 3-5 and 6-8 in your Club and Youth Center. The survey tools measure attitudes and skills that can lead to the intended outcomes of the program. Using these evaluation tools will enable you to track the progress of youth towards building skills that support healthy decision-making. The resources include a pre-/post-test, a follow-up survey and retrospective post-test survey.
Use Calming Music to Guide Session Facilitation
Use calming music when youth enter the program space, during individual activity time and when youth are transitioning to the next place. This technique can help refocus young people’s energy and contribute to the feelings of a calm and safe program space. Calming music sections should be free of words, slow in pace and may even include nature sounds.
Allow Youth Opportunities to Pass
Emotional safety is a priority during the SMART Moves: Core sessions. Make sure youth are provided an opportunity to “pass” or sit out of activities if they are feeling uncomfortable or unwilling to share during a component of the session. Youth who would like to opt out of activities can utilize two options.
Use Groupers Intentionally
Using groupers – quick, inclusive ways to divide a large group into smaller groups or teams – is a key youth development practice, as it helps build community among a group of youth. Rather than letting youth work together with friends or others they already know well, the groupers allow youth to be partnered in various new ways, and support teamwork and trust-building for the group at large. While each SMART Moves: Core session includes a grouper, you can find alternative groupers in BGCA’s YDToolbox app. Download the free app from the Apple Store or Google Play, or access online at ydtoolbox.goodbarber.com.
Obtain Parent/Guardian Consent Forms
BGCA recommends that before you begin any of the components of the SMART Moves suite, you have received parent or guardian permission for youth to participate in the program. Sample Parent/Guardian Consent Forms in English and Spanish can be found under the Resources tab of this collection.
BGCA recommends that before you begin any of the components of the SMART Moves Suite, you receive parent or guardian permission for youth to participate in the program. Please see the sample consent form under the Resources tab of this collection.
The sample consent form is intended to seek permission from parents, guardians and other caregivers for their children to participate in social-emotional development and health promotion programming, and to encourage their support of your endeavors. First, determine whether to use the English or Spanish-language version of the consent form. Then, simply replace the text in parentheses at the top of the page with your Club’s information, print copies on Club letterhead, and distribute to your members’ parents or guardians. Ask youth to return signed forms before the program begins.
Young people are frequently faced with making decisions about health, and certain health-risk behaviors remain relatively high among youth, despite overall declining trends. In 2017, among all high school students, 30% reported current alcohol use, 20% reported current marijuana use, and 13% reported having used an e-vapor product. Also, among 39% of high school students who reported having ever had sexual intercourse, only 54% had reported using a condom at last sexual intercourse.x
We know that a young person’s social-emotional skills are linked to healthier outcomes, including substance use prevention, mental health and smoking.i, ii And, this social-emotional skill building starts early; stronger social-emotional skills, noticed as early as kindergarten, are correlated with improved measures of overall health into adulthood.xii To address this, many of the evidence-based risk-taking behavior prevention curricula focus much of their content on social-emotional skill-building opportunities given the link between higher social-emotional skills and reduced health risk-taking, especially for substance use.xiii
Additionally, health behavior research shows that health promotion education programs can be effective at reducing young people’s engagement in risky behaviors such as substance use, sexual health or violence. Although it is common to assume that a focus on teaching health facts contributes to health behavior change, health programs should include specific elements to be considered effective. Some of these elements include:
Boys & Girls Clubs of America has used this research to guide the development of the SMART Moves health promotion program. SMART Moves is BGCA’s foundational program focused on universal health promotion through skill building for youth in Grades K-8.
Research into several key strategies informed the development of the SMART Moves suite. The targeted program and supporting tools were designed to support the following strategies.
SMART Moves: Core was developed using core constructs from two health behavior change theories: the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Social Cognitive Theory. The Theory of Planned Behavior states that attitudes towards the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control together shape and individual’s intentions, and thus, their behavior. The Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes the dynamic interaction between people, their behavior and their environments in dictating behavioral choices. These two theories work together to guide the development of SMART Moves: Core and led us to include opportunities for families and peers to share their values around healthy decision-making and build positive attitudes towards and belief in young people’s ability to perform a specific behavior.
Research has shown that the evidence-based foundational skills embedded in SMART Moves: Core can lead to the outcomes shown in the logic model. SMART Moves: Core was designed to help youth achieve the following short-term, intermediate and long-term outcomes.
| Objective |
Youth will build social-emotional and health skills to effectively make and communicate healthy decisions
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Short-Term Outcomes (0-3 months) |
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Intermediate Outcomes (3-6 months) |
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Long-Term Outcomes (12 months or more) |
Youth are able to make informed decisions about health
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Research has shown that the evidence-based foundational skills embedded in SMART Moves: Core can lead to the outcomes shown in the logic model. The evaluation resources – found under the Resources tab of this collection – are tools your Club or Youth Center can use to measure the impact of this targeted program on participants’ skills and assets, particularly those that have been shown to lead to a reduction in risk-taking behavior.
Staff Instructions
The evaluation resources include a guide to understanding your data and a selection of surveys that you can choose from depending on what works best for your Club or Youth Center.
Guide to Understanding Your Data: Overview of what knowledge, attitudes and skills are being measured by the surveys and how to interpret your results
Cover Page: Instructions to review with members before administering evaluation
Pre-/Post-Evaluation Survey: For use right before and right after SMART Moves: Core
Follow-Up Survey: For use at any specified time period after SMART Moves: Core
Retrospective (Reflection) Survey: Use instead of the pre/post surveys right after SMART Moves: Core
| Type of Evaluation | Overview | Instructions for Use |
| SMART Moves: Core Pre-Evaluation Survey | Assesses knowledge, attitudes and skills before the program | Give to members before implementing the program. |
| SMART Moves: Core Post-Evaluation Survey | Assesses changes in knowledge, attitudes and skills right after completing the program | Give to members right after finishing the program. |
| SMART Moves: Core Follow-Up Survey | Assess changes in knowledge, attitudes and skills over a period of time after completing the program to see the impact of the program on members over time | Give to members during a specified period of time (i.e. 3, 6, 12 months) after finishing the program. Survey can be used at different follow-up time points. |
| SMART Moves: Core Retrospective (Reflection) Survey | Assesses knowledge, attitudes and skills before and right after the program in one survey in order to reduce the amount of surveys taken. Use this instead of the pre-/ post-evaluation. | Give to members right after finishing the program to capture how they felt before the program and after. |
Overview of SMART Moves: Core
SMART Moves: Core is a health promotion program that serves as the foundational learning experience for all youth in the SMART Moves suite. This targeted program focuses on building social-emotional skills such as effective communication, decision-making, and refusal skills that address many of the risk and protective factors associated with risky health behaviors such as e-cigarettes and opioids. The goal of the SMART Moves: Core targeted program is to influence attitudes and teach essential skills to enable youth to make healthy decisions about risky behaviors. As a result of this targeted program, youth will be able to:
The surveys included in the suite of evaluation resources will help you measure the impact of the SMART Moves: Core targeted program on the youth in your Club or Youth Center. The survey tools measure attitudes and skills that can lead to the intended outcomes of the program. These evaluation tools will enable you to track the progress of youth towards the adoption of healthy behaviors, effective communication and decision-making skills. Below is a description of each of the attitudes and skills that the evaluation tools measure.
(Attitudes and skills related to health behaviors)
| Healthy Decision-Making Attitudes and Skills | Definition | Survey Items |
| Digital Literacy | Analyzing digital media for accuracy and impact on self-image | For each of the following statements, please tell us how easy or difficult these behaviors are for you:
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| Positive Health Beliefs | Belief in importance of avoiding risky health behaviors | How much do you agree or disagree with the following: It’s important for me to choose healthy behaviors.
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| Positive View of Future | Having high aspirations for the future | How much do you agree or disagree with the following:
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| Resistance Skills | Resisting negative peer pressure and unhealthy situations | How much do you agree or disagree with the following:
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| Health Communication | Talking with adults and peers about health questions and decisions | For each of the following statements, please tell us how easy or difficult these behaviors are for you:
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(Ability to foster relationships, communicate, regulate emotions and make decisions)
| Social- Emotional Skills | Definition | Survey Items |
| Identifying Emotions | Expressing feelings | For each of the following statements, please tell us how easy or difficult these behaviors are for you:
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| Self-Awareness | Belief in importance of avoiding risky health behaviors | How much do you agree or disagree with the following: I can describe my feelings.
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| Communication | Sharing information both verbally and nonverbally and listening to others | How much do you agree or disagree with the following: I can say what I am thinking or feeling without using words.
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| Self-Efficacy | Perceived capability to do a specific task | For each of the following statements, choose the answer that best describes you:
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| Evaluating | Process used to make informed decisions and identify appropriate options | For each of the following statements, please tell us how easy or difficult these behaviors are for you:
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| Identifying and Solving Problems | Noticing problems and working to find a solution | For each of the following statements, please tell us how easy or difficult these behaviors are for you: Asking for advice from a trusted adult before making an important decision.
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There are three different scales being used to measure the attitudes and skills in SMART Moves: Core. The table below gives an overview of the scales and how to interpret them when analyzing your data.
| Scale | Data Interpretation |
For each of the following statements, choose the answer that best describes you:
| These items generally track the belief in oneself to do something and perceived confidence and ability. “Very true” represents the highest score and belief in oneself, while “Not true at all” represents the lowest score and belief in oneself. Growth in youth attitudes and skills are demonstrated by increases in the amount of youth who selected “Not true at all” or “Not very true” to “Sort of true” and “Very true.” |
How much do you agree or disagree with the following?
| These items generally track confidence in communication, decision-making and making decisions based on future goals. “Strongly agree” represents the highest score and these abilities, while “Strongly disagree” represents the lowest score and abilities to engage in these skills. Growth in youth attitudes and skills are demonstrated by increases in the amount of youth who selected “Strongly disagree” or “Disagree” to “Agree” and “Strongly agree.” |
For each of the following statements, please tell us how easy or difficult these behaviors are for you.
| These items generally track the degree to which it is difficult or easy to engage in problem-solving behaviors and regulating feelings. “Very easy” represents the highest score and ability to engage in these skills, while “Very difficult” represents the lowest score and ability to engage in these skills. Growth in youth attitudes and skills are demonstrated by increases in the amount of youth who selected “Very difficult” or “Difficult” to “Easy” and “Very easy.” |
Use the evaluation tools to measure the impact of SMART Moves: Core on your youth. Using the follow-up survey will enable you to track growth over time in the selected attitudes and skills to demonstrate longer-term impact and outcomes. Each of these tools are available under the Resources tab of this collection.
i Goodman, A., Joshi, H., Nasim, B., & Tyler, C. (2015). Social and Emotional skills in childhood and their long term effects on adult life. A report from Early Intervention Foundation. Retrieved from: eif.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/EIF-Strand-1-Report-FINAL1.pdf
ii Taylor, R. D., Durlak, J. A., Oberle, E., & Weissberg R. P. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88, 1156-1171.
iii National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2003). Preventing drug use among children and adolescents: A research-based guide for parents, educators, and community leaders. (NIH Publication No. 04-4212A).
iv CDC, 2016 cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/profiles/pdf/2016/2016_Profiles_Report.pdf
v Visit BGCA.net and search for "Program Basics Suite."
vi CoreStandards.org (2019) Standards in Your State. corestandards.org/standards-in-your-state
vii youth.gov/youth-topics/positive-youth-development
viii akschoolpsych.org/sites/default/files/SEL_Adult_self-assessment.pdf
ix Oman, R., Vesely, S., Aspy, C., McLeroy, K., Luby, C. (2004). The association between multiple youth assets and sexual behavior. American Journal of Health Promotion. 19(1), 12-18.
x Markham, C. Lormand, D., Gloppen, K., Peskin, M., Flores, B., Low, B., House, L. (2010). Connectedness as a predictor of sexual and reproductive health outcomes of youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46(3 suppl), S23-41.
xi cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/2017/ss6708.pdf
xii Damon E. Jones, Mark Greenberg, and Max Crowley, 2015:
xiii Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness
xiv store.samhsa.gov/system/files/pep19-pl-guide-1.pdf
xv cdc.gov/healthyschools/sher/characteristics/index.htm
xvii casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2013-casel-guide.pdf
xviii Kia-Keating, M., Dowdy, E., Morgan, M. L., & Noam, G. G. (2011). Protecting and promoting: An integrative conceptual model for healthy development of adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 48(3), 220-228.
xix Oman, R., Vesely, S., Aspy, C., McLeroy, K., Luby, C. (2004). The association between multiple youth assets and sexual behavior. American Journal of Health Promotion. 19(1), 12-18.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America gratefully acknowledges the many people who contributed to the development of the revised and expanded suite of SMART Moves targeted programs and resources.
The staff and youth of the Boys & Girls Clubs and Youth Centers that participated in the pilot test provided invaluable insights and suggestions for refining and enhancing the program.
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region (Bay City, Mich.)
Boys & Girls Club of Missoula County (Missoula, Mont.)
Boys & Girls Club of Yellowstone County (Billings, Mont.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada (Carson City, Nev.)
Boys & Girls Club of Bay Mills (Brimley, Mich.)
Akwesasne Boys & Girls Club, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe (Akwesasne, N.Y.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Emerald Coast (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.)
James L. McKeown Boys & Girls Club of Woburn, Inc. (Woburn, Mass.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County (Raleigh, N.C.)
USAG Fort Knox CYS Services (Fort Knox, Ky.)
Hill AFB Youth Program (Hill AFB, Utah)
USAG Fort Bragg CYS Services (Fort Bragg, N.C)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta (Atlanta, Ga.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee (Nashville, Tenn.)
Boys & Girls Club Fox Valley, Inc. (Appleton, Wis.)
Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Ohio (Oberlin, Ohio)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley (Sonoma, Calif.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of the North Valley (Chico, Calif.)
Boys & Girls Club of Mason Valley (Yerington, Nev.)
Boys & Girls Club of Plymouth (Plymouth, Mass.)
Lubbock Boys & Girls Club (Lubbock, Texas)
Boys & Girls Club of Springfield (Springfield, Mo.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County (Seaside, Calif.)
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County, Inc. (Fort Worth, Texas)
Union League Boys & Girls Clubs (Chicago, Ill.)
New London Naval Submarine Base (New London, Conn.)
Mountain Home AFB Youth Program (Mountain Home AFB, Idaho)
Lide White Memorial Boys & Girls Club (Madison, Ind.)
The following BGCA national staff members contributed to the development of this program:
Elizabeth Fowlkes, Senior Vice President, Strategy
Crystal Brown, National Vice President, Youth Development Programs
Jennifer Bateman, Senior Advisor, Youth Development Programs
Lauren Barineau, Senior Director, Youth Development Programs
Zaynah Johnson, Director, Youth Development Programs, and Project Manager
Kate Endries, Director, Youth Development Programs
Tanisha Grimes, National Director, Youth Development Programs
Danielle Morris, National Director, Youth Development Programs
Katherine Adams, Director, Youth Development Programs
Lesa Sexton, Director, Youth Development Programs
Mitru Ciarlante, Lead Director, Child Safety & Quality Assurance
Sarah Nemecek, Director, Child Safety & Quality Assurance
Michelle McQuiston, Director, Editorial Services
Chip Bailey, Director, Creative Projects and Management
Matt Stepp, Senior Art Director, Creative Services
Special thanks to Amanda Wilson and Melanie Baffes for their contributions to the research and content development for this targeted program.
Special thanks to Marie Netto and West Bunting for the editorial and design support necessary to make this the best publication possible.
We appreciate the partnership of Sanford Harmony who provided foundational social-emotional content to be adapted for the SMART Moves program suite. Visit www.sanfordharmony.org for more information.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America gratefully acknowledges the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence for its permission to adapt essential tools for creating emotionally safe climates in Clubs and Youth Centers.
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