Whatâs the Buzz with Teenagers?

Pre-teens and teenagers are faced with a continually changing and complex social world which not only involves face-to-face action, but also online and social media interaction. What's the Buzz with Teenagers? is offers a highly practical programme designed to explicitly teach young people to get along and maintain healthy relationships with their friends, family and the broader community.

Embracing current thinking on `self-awareness and behaviour transformation' in adolescents, it uses highly interactive role-plays, filmmaking, thinking exercises, quizzes, group discussions, and confidence building games to improve social skills and promote inclusion in a fun, effective and appealing way. Easy to implement in upper primary and middle schools, in health care settings and beyond, What's the Buzz with Teenagers?:

• Is a deeply structured resource to teach young people in the 12 to 15-year-old developmental range.
• Offers a connecting approach to bring young people together to learn without the pressure of `getting social interaction right' all the time.
• Aims to normalise the anxieties, sensitivities and loneliness that many young people experience during adolescence by sharing thoughts and exploring this common ground.
• Explicitly teaches how to `read' the emotional needs of others, show empathy and build relationships.
• Uses a developmental model that ensures relevance and inclusion to young people with a broad range of backgrounds, abilities and challenges.

The program provides lessons which educators and health professionals can adapt to suit their individual circumstances and time frames, and creates a framework for a warm, engaging and interactive space in which learning is optimized.

The book is complemented by the website www.whatsthebuzz.net.au which offers online downloadable resources and a further six lessons.

Also available are What's the Buzz?: A Social Skills Enrichment Programme for Primary Students and What's the Buzz? For Early Learners.