TWEEN TIME

Safe Haven Kid's League of California City’s Tween Time Program is designed specifically to build cognitive-behavioral skills in tweens leaving childhood and entering adolescence. Our tween mentors help to teach them to implement “Life-Skills” that can enhance self-esteem, help them recognize and deal with peer pressure, practice sound decision-making and simply cope with the overall challenges of puberty. Although the Tween Time activities will change throughout the course of each year, three main components are featured below along with activity favorites.

Teen N’ Tween (T.N.T.)

As tweens sort out their identity, teenagers can have a significant impact on how tweens respond and process information. As tweens aspire to either bonding with an older sibling or finally getting to do what he or she does, it is often difficult to navigate the murky waters of puberty. Tweens who are at-risk are often burdened with issues that are beyond their years. Our teenage volunteers understand because they have been there, and are able to gain a tween’s trust by listening, sharing their own experiences, and showing them by example how to triumph. Our Tween Time program helps them to see that they are not alone in their experience and they have someone there to help navigate them through it.

One to One Mentorship

The one to one mentoring is very successful. Therapists, social workers, and educators all volunteer to mentor our tweens. What makes this program successful is each mentors approach. Our mentors become friends, help teach our tweens to set realistic goals and expectations, they listen objectively not as authority figures but allowing their mentees to have a voice and choice in making certain decisions. In doing so, they gain trust, impart introspection, and teach them valuable lessons that can be used for the rest of their lives.

Cognitive Behavioral Activities

The cognitive behavioral activities are based on thoughts, behavior, and feelings our tweens face on a daily basis. We make these activities fun while helping our tweens challenge negative assumptions with a behavioral experiment. For example, the tween who thinks they are socially awkward might be challenged participate in a fun hip-hop dance class. If they experience some success, which is almost always the case, the belief that they are socially awkward might not be as strong. No matter what the activity, the result ends the same. They have had fun because they have received positive reinforcement from each other!