null

Blog

7 Key Steps to Building Self‑Determination for Success

7 Key Steps to Building Self‑Determination for Success

Self‑determination plays a huge role in how we set goals, stay motivated, and bounce back when things get hard. You can see it when a student keeps practicing even after failing a test, when a teenager advocates for what they need, or when an adult sticks with a long-term goal despite setbacks. Whether you are supporting students, clients, or your own personal growth, these seven steps can help strengthen self‑determination in practical, meaningful ways. 1. Understand What Self‑Determination Is …
Jan 7th 2026 Boys Town Press Contributors

The Power of Words: Treating Word Choice Like Salt

Most people have heard the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Well, that is a big LIE! Words are being used more than ever to hurt people in the world today. Have you ever said something that you wish you could take back? We all have. In fact, there have been times when that little voice in my head has advised me, “Don’t say it, you’re going to regret it…” and I still spoke those words. Usually, an argument begins when I could have avoided i …
Sep 22nd 2021 Kip Jones, Boys Town Press Author and School Counselor

2020: A Year of Visual Clarity

For over 150 years, the phrase “20/20 vision” has been used to reference visual clarity or acuity. That’s from where the commonly used phrase, “Hindsight is 20/20” comes. And here we are winding down the year 2020, when so much is up in the air, it’s hard to look at this past year and think of anything as particularly clear. But if we look hard enough, we can see that 2020 has provided us with the opportunity to look clearly upon our own lives and self-reflect on things for which we sho …
Dec 7th 2020 Kip Jones, Boys Town Press Author and School Counselor

​Peer Pressure - The Need to Feel Accepted!

Our ability to socialize and work with others in a group to accomplish common goals and succeed together is one of the best abilities we have as a community. But at times, our social nature works against us, and we confuse the suggestions of others for things we need to do to fit in or feel accepted. Peer pressure seems to plague every generation. Why do kids try to influence each other to do things that might negatively impact them? Why do kids listen to their peers instead of th …
Aug 18th 2020 Kip Jones, Boys Town Press Author and School Counselor

Teach Kids to be a B.O.S.S and Take a Stand Against Bullying

Bullying has become an epidemic in communities, homes, online and our schools. For example, bullyingstatistics.org cites the following data: Bullying victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and …
Oct 9th 2019 Kip Jones, Boys Town Press Author and School Counselor