The Need For Passion?

Problem

Solution

Approach

Covid-19 accelerated a growth trend in student stress and anxiety that has led the United States to the current youth mental health pandemic. In 2020, a Yale study across all demographic groups revealed that 75% of high school students felt “tired, stressed, and bored” toward school. Given that this is where they spend at least 1/4 of their waking hours, these emotions are troubling and correlate with the rises in youth mental illness, criminal behavior, and overall lack of preparation for post-high school success.

A shift towards being more valued, connected and inspired can cultivate youth feelings of joy and emotional intelligence. Youth who complete high school with a personal sense of passion have an increased probability of success whether post-high school plans lead to college/university education, job placement, or starting a new business.

To achieve this shift toward youth joy and positive feelings, 4 simple steps are required.

1) Identify and hone the student’s natural passion

2) Create the clear vision

3) Connect school work and activities to the vision

4) Create a detailed path to post-high school success

Why Passion Identity Education?

The 18th century Industrial Revolution brought about significant technological and economic progress. With improved food production, advancements in medicine and sanitation, and changes in social structures, there was rapid expansion. The 17th century compulsory education model was a key tool to quickly train employees and fill jobs to efficiently support this societal growth. All citizens were taught the same basic skills and prepared to enter the growing job market. A natural consequence of this uniform development was an increasing degree of competitiveness for top school grades and the best jobs. The stress of this competition encouraged the rise in mental health challenges and has contributed to our society reaching its current mental health pandemic level.

With the Age of Information, there is much less of a need to for uniformity in citizen development because many jobs are being replaced by operational efficiency techniques, robots, and artificial intelligence. As such, and because the job market landscape is shifting so rapidly, there is less of a need for standardized skills to fill jobs and more of a need for a creativity and innovation. In addition, an overwhelming number of high school students feel bored, stressed, and psychologically shut down in school, finding no use for some of the skills being taught. This lack of enthusiasm, along with the ongoing effects of Covid-19 and social media influence, have exacerbated our widespread youth mental health challenges, driven by isolation, lack of engagement, and pessimism about the future.

At Passion Identity Education (PIE), it’s not only about grades and test scores. PIE expert consultants offer the guidance students need and the peace of mind that school systems and parents seek. When students are empowered to develop and integrate their sincere passions into their daily lives, they reduce inner conflict, build mental wellness, and become excited to extract from high school the tools needed to succeed in college, the workplace, or as entrepreneurs.

PIE Guides Students To:

·      Create a strategic plan based on their goals—starting 9th grade or earlier

·      Examine and navigate their key life pillars with unlimited, 24/7 support

·      Identify their passions and launch a meaningful passion projects

·      Embrace independent research, community outreach initiatives, and paths to entrepreneurial success

 ·      Tailor their extracurricular activities, internships, and summer opportunities that match their passion

·      Achieve their goal grades, and SAT/ACT score through tutoring and test-taking support

·      Gain admission to their dream colleges and universities

·      Build contacts and launch their careers as employees and small business entrepreneurs

·      Develop ongoing life skills, interests, and personal goals through professional mentorship

After years of conducting research, hosting workshops and conferences, and personal life experience in the mental illness space, PIE founder, Mark Lawrence, has identified a fresh and exciting approach to combat today’s youth mental health crisis, while infusing our society with the creativity and innovation it so desperately needs for tomorrow. Also, when youth are joyfully engaged in constructive activities, they are less likely to engage with the criminal justice system. This path to building mental wellness is the perfect catalyst to current popular mental health treatment and prevention tools “As our society begins to concentrate on building mental wellness muscles, the mental illness pipeline will sharply decline and nearly choke itself out,” states Lawrence. While mental illness has always existed, research indicates that we can slow down and ultimately reverse this accelerated trend to “shift the paradigm — one seed at a time!”