Joe DiLeo

The Seven Challenges of Passionate Engagement Joe DiLeo

Finding effective ways to deal with teen emotional well-being has become a hot topic in education. Although tragedies like Columbine and Newtown are extreme examples, they do point to the fact that we are not adequately addressing proactive mental health education in our schools. As reform unfolds in our schools, its emphasis on academic achievement bypasses the need for what may well be a deeper level of achievement - addressing the emotional intelligence and character development of teens approaching adult status. Traditional societies provided this type of education through the process of initiation to adulthood. Teens did not automatically become adults at age eighteen. They had to pass a grueling test of their emotional maturity. When the test was successfully completed, teens knew exactly what it meant to be an adult. The Seven Challenges of Passionate Engagement is a book that addresses this missing link. It challenges students to 'grow down' into the roots of human being. Teens need an educational component that provides a clear passageway to a secure identity as young adults. Modern education has fostered a lonely, individualized, educational milieu. We must address the emotional needs of teens in a formal and disciplined way. Teaching to a muddy and real emotional intelligence and character development encourages self-responsibility, community consciousness, group leadership, and the ability to persevere through life's triumphs and tragedies. The Seven Challenges of Passionate Engagement fills a gaping hole in our quest to reform schools. Emotional intelligence and the adult skills and improved school climate that go with it may well prove to be the most important way to address lasting reform in our schools.