Learn & Lead
Students learn the issue, then lead the change.
SLS believes students lead change when they have the knowledge, skills, and support to act. Across seven topic areas, our students learn the issues that matter, then lead campaigns, workshops, and conversations in their schools and communities.
How Learn & Lead works
Every topic follows the same arc.
Learn
Students dig into the facts, the risks, and what’s really happening in their own school — including the research that makes the healthy majority visible.
Lead
Then they run the campaigns, workshops, and peer conversations that shift what their classmates believe and do.
Seven topics students learn and lead
Tap a topic to see what students learn, the campaigns they lead, and where to go for more.
Alcohol is the substance teens encounter earliest and most often — and the one whose risks get normalized fastest. SLS students learn how alcohol affects the developing brain, what high-risk drinking actually looks like, and the research showing most teens drink far less than their peers assume. Then they lead campaigns that make the healthy majority visible.
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Bullying takes many shapes — in person, online, social exclusion, verbal harm. SLS students learn how to identify it, how to interrupt it, and how to build school climates where everyone is treated with dignity. Training participants leave ready to lead inclusion campaigns and respond when they see bullying happening.
Student videos
Resources
Crashes are a leading cause of death for teen drivers. SLS students learn the issues that matter most — seat belt use, drowsy driving, distracted driving, impaired driving — and then lead safe-driving campaigns at their schools. Trainings include access to the AAA-sponsored driving simulator.
Student videos
Resources
The teen years are when people learn what healthy relationships look like — with friends, family, partners, even with food and technology. SLS students learn to recognize the warning signs of unhealthy relationships and the characteristics of healthy ones, then prepare to help their peers see the difference.
Student videos
Resources
Substance use trends shift fast and students see them first. SLS students learn how drugs affect the brain and body, the short- and long-term consequences, and how to identify the substances of greatest concern in their school. Then they design and lead campaigns aimed at their peers.
Student videos
Resources
Taking care of yourself mentally is a skill, not a personality trait. SLS students learn to identify the triggers that contribute to poor mental health, build healthy coping strategies, and recognize when to seek help from an adult. They leave prepared to support themselves and their peers.
Student videos
Resources
7.8% of high school students (1.8% nicotine pouches) and 3.5% of middle school students vaped nicotine in the past year (National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2024) — which means 92.2% of high school and 96.5% of middle school students did not. SLS students learn the facts about nicotine, what it does to the body, and how addiction works. Then they lead campaigns to educate their friends.
Student videos
Resources
Bring Learn & Lead to your school
SLS trainings are designed for student leaders, peer educators, and chapter members. Get in touch to book a session or build a curriculum across multiple topics.