NFL to extend character education program to middle schoolers at draft
The NFL will launch the next phase of its character education program this week in Chicago, site of the 2016 draft.
And this time, the NFL is trying to reach its youngest demographic yet: middle school students.
In partnership with the United Way, the digital “Character Playbook” program will debut in 15 NFL markets, reaching more than 240 middle schools this year. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and a handful of draft prospects will attend a ceremony to launch the program at a middle school on the south side of Chicago on Thursday.
“We know when it comes to social and emotional learning, especially when it comes to character education, it’s important to start young, and that’s why this program is specifically geared to middle school students,” said Anna Isaacson, the NFL’s senior vice president of social responsibility.
“We’re excited to launch this in a digital way. We know this generation, they are native to digital learning, so we should be able to reach kids that are right in the prime (window) and ready to hear this message.”
The message focuses broadly on character development and includes education about building healthy relationships, something that has been included in all levels of the league’s off-field program since the domestic violence scandals involving Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and others in 2014. That includes the mandatory education program for all players and league employees, and two programs paid for by the NFL that target high school coaches and athletes in all sports, not just football. The pilot program for high school athletes launched in the Dallas and Denver metro areas last year.
“We can’t measure change if you only do this for one gender, or one sport,” said Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL defensive lineman who runs Coach for America, the organization leading the high school programs.
Ehrmann said his goal with the high school and coaching programs is to fix what he calls a “crisis of masculinity” and change the way athletes view themselves and others. These core values will be part of the new middle school program as well.
"We have to build empathy and moral courage in every student athlete,” Ehrmann said. “This is a key to stopping sexual assault and bullying and all these other problems. Sports can teach you about physical courage, but what we need to develop is moral courage.”
The draft prospects in Chicago won’t go through the league's domestic violence and sexual assault education prior to the draft, like prospects did in 2015, now that the rookie engagement program will be handled by individual teams starting in May. But they will have access to informal off-field mentoring through the NFL Legends program, with former players like Dick Butkus, Orlando Pace and Jim Kelly scheduled to be available.
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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones