Decisions: A Young Man's Guide To Avoiding The Traps

Purchase a signed copy at www.mrphillipsthechangeagent.com Decisions: Young Man’s Guide To Avoiding The Traps is designed to help youths and adolescents reach their full potential by gaining an awareness of—and successfully avoiding—many of the common traps and pitfalls that may prevent them from being successful in school and in the community. Decisions makes no assumptions about what prerequisite skills and understandings participants may have, which is why the it is designed to provide young men and women with practical, useful strategies and concepts that can immediately be implemented during, and upon completion of, the program. Topics covered within the book include character development, entrepreneurship, college and career readiness, programming yourself for success, improving decision making, the relationship between peer groups and success, persevering through obstacles, improving intrinsic motivation, time management, the consequences of poor decision making, bullying, delinquent behavior, gang involvement, and the residual effects of both positive and negative decisions. This program is well suited for schools, youth programs, mentor organizations, and in-school suspension programs, and it may serve as an alternative to out-of- school suspension or juvenile detention. Learn more at www.MrPhillipsTheChangeAgent.com.

Patrick Phillips, "The Change Agent," is a recipient of the President's Volunteer Service Award and a graduate of Georgia State University (GSU), and he holds master's and bachelor's degrees in social work. Mr. Phillips was born and raised in a single-parent household in South Central Los Angeles, and he overcame many of the challenges that youths face today. He has an extensive background in working with youths, adults, families, community organizations, and college students. His experiences in education began in Los Angeles and Long Beach, where Mr. Phillips was a paraprofessional and behavior intervention specialist working with children with developmental disabilities. After graduating from GSU, Mr. Phillips worked as a social worker with the Division of Family and Children Services, in the foster-care unit, working closely with underserved populations. He later transitioned back into education, where he taught in the general-education and special-education settings in elementary-and middle-school grade levels and served as a school social worker in the Metro Atlanta Area. Mr. Phillips's most recent teaching experiences include instructing at the collegiate level and conducting trainings, facilitating workshops, and performing staff developments. Mr. Phillips has partnered with various organizations, including V-103 and News- Talk 1380 WAOK radio stations, East Georgia State College, Atlanta Metropolitan State College, YELLS, Project GRAD, and several other schools and community organizations throughout the United States. Mr. Phillips has spoken to more than ten thousand youths, parents, and community stakeholders through his speaking engagements and workshops. Additionally, Patrick's engaging motivational/educational videos and mixtapes, which have more than one hundred thousand views and listens on social media, have been played in classrooms and organizations throughout the United States. He continues to facilitate change one engagement at a time.