Tag: encourage
Campaign launched to encourage more Black people to give blood – with data showing they only make up 1% of donors
Want to encourage social-emotional learning at home? Check out these graphic novels.
Social-emotional learning, what you might know as SEL, is a decades-old philosophy that teaches emotional well-being alongside academic skills, promoting educational success that reaches far beyond grades on paper. Incorporating these ideas looks different for every parent, teacher, and kid — but if you’re searching for ways to help your child absorb social-emotional teachings, it might be worth trying out some accessible illustrated novels.
There’s a broad lexicon of SEL terms, principles, and varying definitions of what it means to teach social-emotional skills, but a simple way to think of SEL is to distill it into five key areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. In the classroom, you see these core competencies integrated into direct instruction and the daily, routine behaviors of both students and teachers, such as group work, conflict resolution, and emotional check-ins. Novels exploring these concepts through engaging narratives can be a fun way to support young readers in recognizing and modeling SEL skills.
And this all seems pretty great, right? As children learn the basics of academic subjects that will certainly help them in their educational journey, they’re also receiving a compassion crash course in how to take care of themselves as students, as community members, and as people. SEL isn’t age-specific, either, with its core lessons offering essential skills for adults and parents, as well.
Unfortunately, SEL isn’t free from the scrutiny of parents and politicians alike, many of whom have lumped its curriculum in with a wide-scale attack on inclusive teaching practices, critical race theory, and other so-called liberal learning agendas. Combine political turmoil with a concern for young people’s emotional health and development in an isolated, remote-learning age, and it’s clear our country’s educators can’t be expected to champion social-emotional wellness alone.
While there are many teaching tools, books, and workshops online, an easy place to start is to introduce SEL-related options into your children’s media consumption. Mashable has put together a short list of graphic novels as a starting point for SEL, digging into related themes like empathy, emotional regulation, and relationship building, among many, many others.
1. Growing Pangs by Kathryn Ormsbee
Ages 8+
Credit: Penguin Random House
Growing Pangs is a graphic novel about Katie, a young girl whose summer camp worries about her best friend grow into a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Katie learns healthy ways to channel her worries about her friend Kacey, homeschooling, and generally feeling like an outsider. Her story is a kind, accessible look into young people’s mental health, friendships, and growing up.
SEL themes: self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills
2. El Deafo by Cece Bell
Ages 8+
Credit: Abrams Books
In the elementary-appropriate graphic novel El Deafo, young bunny Cece processes attending school as a deaf student through a brave and powerful superhero alter-ego. The story touches on how children deal with complex emotions, accept individual differences, and spot social cues. Cece and her classmates also engage in a lot of collaboration and cooperation.
SEL themes: self-management, social awareness, relationship skills
3. Real Friends by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham
Ages 8+
Credit: Macmillan Publishers
Real Friends is a memoir-esque story inspired by Hale’s childhood and all the turmoil a young girl feels when she senses her friendships might be changing. The story’s main character is Shannon, who finds herself growing apart from her best friend, Adrienne, after she joins a tough, popular crowd at school. Shannon’s navigation of girlhood, relationships, and adolescent emotions inform the bulk of the illustrated tale.
SEL themes: self-management, relationship skills, responsible decision-making
4. Stargazing by Jen Wang
Ages 10+
Credit: Macmillan Publishers
Wang’s novel depicts a new relationship between two fast friends: Christine and new-to-the-neighborhood Moon, who form a close bond as misunderstood preteens. The two of them navigate social conflicts, emotional upheaval, and life-changing health scares as they both compete in their school’s talent show.
SEL themes: self-management, social awareness, relationship skills
5. Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
Ages 10+
Credit: Macmillan Publishers
In Be Prepared, tween Vera, a young girl from a Russian family that’s moved to American suburbia, is going to Russian summer camp. Hailing from a single-parent, low-income household and surrounded by much wealthier families, Vera is still trying to fit in and come to terms with disappointment, exclusion, and cultural differences.
SEL themes: self-awareness, relationship skills
6. Duff Parker and the Downfall of the Dystopiad by J. Hill and Ian Moore
Ages 12+
Credit: Avenue A Books / The Center for Responsible Schools
In Duff Parker and the Downfall of the Dystopiad, middle schooler Duff seeks out graphic novels and his school’s science-fiction club as sources of stability and community as he deals with the aftermath of falling into a neighborhood gang — a circumstance that led to someone getting seriously hurt. The novel was published by the Center for Responsive Schools, an education nonprofit and publishing house that focuses on SEL resources.
A bonus: The graphic novel is illustrated by Mashable’s very own resident artist, Ian Moore.
SEL themes: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making
7. Smells Like Trouble by Micah Amundsen and Marta Tedry
Ages 12+
Credit: Avenue A Books / The Center for Responsible Schools
This middle school graphic novel uses the tale of Dawn, a science whiz and chronic anxiety sufferer, and her best friend, James, to show how young people can manage their anxiety in uncomfortable and stressful social situations. When James is accused of a smelly, over-the-top prank, Dawn must overcome her own fears to stand up for her friends and passions. It was also published by the Center for Responsible Schools.
SEL themes: self-management, relationship skills, responsible decision-making
8. Essex County Trilogy by Jeff Lemire
Ages 13+
Credit: Penguin Random House
In Tales from the Farm, the first of a three-book collection following a community in an imaginary version of the author’s home in Ontario, Canada, Lemire tells the story of a 10-year-old orphan named Lester who finds solace in some unexpected local relationships. The rest of Essex County shares the intimate stories of a single community navigating grief, friendship, love, and loneliness.
SEL themes: self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills
9. Everything Is Beautiful, and I’m Not Afraid by Yao Xiao
Ages 13+
Credit: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Inspired by the author and cartoonist’s own experiences as a young, queer immigrant, this graphic novel follows a young person on a journey to find a place of belonging as they explore their gender nonconformity, home life, and interpersonal conflicts. The book is a collection of Yao Xiao’s poetic monthly web comic series, known as Baopu.
SEL themes: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness
10. Alexis vs. Summer Vacation by Sarah Jamila Stevenson and Veronica Agarwal
Ages 13+
Credit: Avenue A Books / The Center for Responsible Schools
Alexis vs. Summer Vacation is a coming-of-age story about being 14 years old and struggling to figure out who you are and who you want to be. Alexis is about to start high school and is attempting to make new friends, all while coping with what that means for her now that she’s realized she has a crush on a girl. She must come up with a way to stand up for herself and her community while processing her own identity.
SEL themes: self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills
Naughty Dog is holding off on announcing its next game to encourage a better work-life balance
In a recent interview, Naughty Dog co-president and The Last of Us Director Neil Druckmann explained why the studio hasn’t revealed its next game yet.
Speaking to ComicBook about the upcoming live-action take on The Last of Us from HBO, Druckmann spoke about how Naughty Dog has announced some of its games too early. “You’re right, we did announce Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us Part 2 way in advance, but that actually caused a little bit of the work-life balance issues that we’ve sometimes had at the studio,” Druckmann told ComicBook.
“By delaying that announcement a bit, we could play with the schedule more and we’re more conscious now about how we’re approaching production. So there’s our [The Last of Us] multiplayer project and there’s another project that I will not say anything about that’s beyond that that we’re also very much excited for.”
Microsoft could offer concessions to encourage EU regulators to approve their Activision Blizzard buyout
Microsoft might consider offering Sony a 10-year licensing deal for Call Of Duty to persuade European Union regulators to approve their Activision Blizzard acquisition. Reuters report that sources familiar with the deal claim an offer could come ahead of the European Commission’s January deadline for their statement of objection, a formal list of the body’s concerns about how the $68.7 billion (£57 billion) buyout deal might affect competition within the games industry. If Microsoft show willingness to offer concessions and ease the EU regulator’s competition concerns, that could potentially speed up the regulator’s decision-making process.
UK police accused of uploading misleading Waze reports to encourage safer driving
The Surrey police force in the UK has found itself at the center of a controversy after one of its official Twitter accounts shared how some officers use Waze to encourage drivers to slow down. In a series of tweets spotted by The Guardian, the department’s Roads Policing unit revealed it uses the crowdsourced navigation app to share misleading information.
“We definitely don’t drop police markers on Waze at random points on our patrol, nope – never,” the unit said, adding a winking emoji for good measure. “An easy way to get drivers to slow down on our roads – thanks Waze.” As you can probably guess, the tweet wasn’t received warmly, with some people accusing Surrey Police of operating “phantom units” and violating the UK’s Computer Misuse Act. Others didn’t go so far, but many pointed out that Waze has a policy against repeatedly posting false reports.
“Technically not false though. We are there at that very specific point in time,” the traffic unit said in response to one accusation of sharing misleading information – this time using a smirking emoji to punctuate its point. “Nowhere on Waze does it say the patrol has to be stationary,” it added.
Waze did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request. After the tweet attracted media attention, Surrey Police issued the following statement:
While officers used this application to deter dangerous driving on our roads, this is not a tactic or policy endorsed by Surrey Police. Innovation and technology will always have a part to play in keeping our communities safe but, although well-intentioned, we know this has caused concern and undermines the trust the public has in us. Media coverage has claimed “phantom” units have been created. This is not the case. Technology has not replaced the presence of officers on our roads. We’re currently reviewing and addressing the use of this tactic.
As for what prompted some to use the tactic in the first, the Roads Policing account suggested it was partly a response to there being fewer officers to enforce traffic laws. “We’re not responsible for the significant cuts to policing budgets over the years that decimated traffic units across the country,” the account said. According to data from the UK government’s Home Department, as of March 2022 there were 4,102 full-time officers policing roads in England and Wales. Just seven years earlier, that number was 5,237.
We definitely don’t drop Police markers on Waze at random points on our patrol, nope – never 😉
An easy way to get drivers to slow down on our roads – thanks @waze. pic.twitter.com/rrv9I9LJJ6
— Roads Policing – Surrey Police – UK (@SurreyRoadCops) August 29, 2022