BILL'S BRIGADE

The National Education Association recently conducted a survey of high school teachers across America. The purpose of the survey was to identify the number one issue for the dramatic increase in teen suicide, teen pregnancy, teen alcoholism, teen drug dependency and depression.

Although there were a number of factors cited, the survey overwhelmingly pointed to one issue: LOW SELF-ESTEEM.

Today’s high school students face challenges unlike anything we had to deal with when we were their age. Today’s students live in a world that is remarkably different from the one we knew. Their access to information (good or bad) is unparalleled in the history of mankind.

Additionally, today’s high school students are growing up in a world where “single-parent” and “dual-income parents” are the norm, not the exception. Subsequently many of them are learning “values” from their peers, not their parents.

All of this creates an environment where they have tremendous amounts of information, very little guidance and a self-image predicated on peer pressure instead of reality. It is easy to see how such a combination could breed “low self-esteem”.

We can change this! We can help them raise their self-esteem!

I make my living traveling the country giving Keynote Speeches and Seminars on the topic of Self Esteem. Because my standard one-hour Keynote fee is $60,000, my audience generally consists of business groups and trade associations. Likewise, my seminars are generally attended by entrepreneurs of one type or another. Until recently I had not had the opportunity to give a presentation to high school students.

It only took a couple of those opportunities to cause me to rededicate the balance of my life to a new “mission”. Those of you who know me know I am a goal orientated person. I have been fortunate in my life to have been able to set and achieve a few goals that most people thought were crazy.

I am about to set another “crazy” goal and I am doing it publicly!

My goal is to put 70,000 high school kids in the Texas Stadium to speak to them about self-respect, self-esteem, peer pressure and teen suicide.

I want to do this simply because – someone should do it, and perhaps it will make a difference. If it prevents one teen-suicide, one teen pregnancy or keeps one teenager from becoming dependent on drugs or alcohol, then it will be worth all the effort.