“The world’s coming to an end, and I haven’t even graduated high school yet.”
That’s a line from a teen character in “Euphoria,” a much-talked-about drama that aired on HBO about a group of high schoolers whose young lives are mired in depression, addiction and issues around sex.
If only it were just fiction.
In 2023, the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported that 40% of high school students had “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.” The numbers were a slight improvement from the CDC’s 2021 survey, but it still means that four in 10 have experienced sadness or hopelessness to the extent that it has interfered with their normal activities on a near-daily basis for at least two weeks.
And the numbers still show that more young people are struggling with mental health than they were a decade ago.
But, it’s not all doom and gloom. That same CDC survey from last year indicated that 55% felt “school connectedness,” i.e. close to others at their schools; one takeaway of the survey is that access to programs that build on those relationships can help schools and students meet today’s challenges.
That’s where Orange County-based Ambassadors of Compassion comes into the picture. Founded in 2010 by Eric and his wife, Jodi Hannah, and father, Dave Hannah, the nonprofit runs a nine-week school program that encourages teens to work together as they meet their personal challenges.
“The data on what’s going on with this generation is discouraging,” says Eric Hannah on a recent call.
Their aim is to teach emotional resiliency. “When we started in 2010, we had to call it leadership,” says Eric. “Now, people really understand what’s going on, collectively.”
Since its founding, Ambassadors of Compassion has attracted celebrity partners, including former 49er Spencer Tillman and “Access Hollywood” host Mario Lopez. Their nine-week program has been instituted in middle and high schools, as well as universities, across the United States.
Locally, Segerstrom High School and Lathrop Intermediate School, both in Santa Ana, participate in Ambassadors of Compassion. In January, the nonprofit will hold a kickoff event at SoFi Stadium to launch the program for several thousand students across Santa Ana Unified School District.
And there’s more: Santa Ana College waives tuition and fees for all high school graduates who complete the Ambassadors program. That means a free undergraduate education.
“We were having difficulty getting our students to stay, persist and complete,” college President Dr. Annebelle Nery announced in an Instagram post. “So the partnership with Ambassadors of Compassion is critical because they have demonstrated student outcomes.”
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The seeds of Ambassadors of Compassion were planted after Eric and Jodi made a rom-com feature film called “Meet Me in Miami.” When the movie opened, they used the opportunity to raise funds to provide hearing aids and glasses for kids, then hosted an event where the kids were able to walk the red carpet and sign autographs.
During the course of those events, Eric noticed how, no matter where they were in the world, young people seemed to be struggling. Ambassadors of Compassion was born to give youth the tools to better handle their struggles.
That celebratory aspect is part of Ambassadors of Compassion’s approach. The kickoff events at the start of every program brings students to stadiums or other large venues because it provides positive reinforcement. “As they come down the red carpet, they’re cheered for by mayors and city leaders and celebrities and business leaders, thanking them for coming and making a difference in their life and community,” says Eric.
Here, they break up into groups with a designated student leader. They’ll listen to talks from the event’s special guests, then return to their groups and discuss. “Participation is very high,” says Eric. “They don’t sit there and listen to information. They are participating.”
And from the get-go, the emphasis is on the students connecting with each other. “We’re not going in and speaking to them for an hour and a half at the kickoff,” says Eric. “We only speak enough to give them permission for them to open their hearts and for them to share with each other. It’s what they share.”
Over the course of two-and-a-half months, the students will embark on personal journeys like LIFE (Labor, Influence, Forgiveness, Experiences) and RISE (Responsibility, Initiative, Service, Expectations) with their groups. They’ll keep each other accountable as they grow. Some will make important decisions about their future, like where to go to college, with their peers at their side. Others will rely on the support as they face past traumas and learn to forgive.
“We teach them how to face it, release it, replace it because the science of forgiveness is very powerful,” says Eric.
Ambassadors of Compassion builds on recent research in psychology that points to the mental health benefits of forgiveness. “If you don’t learn to forgive, you’ll tend to be triggered when people don’t agree with you and, when you’re triggered, you tend to name, blame and shame others,” Eric says. “When that happens, it divides families, it divides businesses. Eventually, it can divide a nation.”
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In the 14 years since Ambassadors of Compassion’s founding, the nature of connection has changed as folks of all ages struggle with maintaining a healthy balance between the world with which we physically interact and the one that exists behind our screens.
For youth, the impact of social media has become a particularly concerning issue. Earlier this year, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for a warning label on social media platforms, due to the damaging effects they can have on young people’s mental health, including increased symptoms of depression and anxiety. Meanwhile, in an interview with ABC News earlier this year on the loneliness epidemic in the U.S., Murthy noted that while one in two adults are experiencing loneliness, those numbers increase amongst youth.
“We are the most connected world ever and yet loneliness is at an all-time high,” says Eric. “How can you be so connected and so lonely? Well, because we are wired to be connected in ways that are not just through social media. That’s information. That’s a form of connection, but that’s not the kind of connection that we’re wired to have as humans.”
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Part of Ambassadors of Compassions’ approach is bringing together students of varied backgrounds. “When you get kids that are maybe your tough kids and you get your successful ones and you get them together, they see that this is something for all of us and they learn from each other,” says Dave Hannah. “That’s when it really started changing a lot.”
Now, the nonprofit is planning to build on their successes. “It was always evidence-based from the beginning,” says Eric of Ambassadors of Compassion’s work. “We focused on what we were seeing. What we were seeing in athletics, what were we seeing when distraction goes away and focus comes in.”
And the results they’re seeing have been positive. A report from Lathrop Intermediate School from the 2016-2017 school year indicates that students who went through the program had an increase in A and B grades and a decrease in Fs. Plus, the unexcused absences, tardies and other disciplinary issues dropped amongst these students.
A 2015 report from Meritcore’s Resiliency Initiatives, which was based on a survey of program participants, indicated that Ambassadors of Compassion did help students develop stronger relationships with peers, family members, school staff and community members. The same report also found that students were gaining confidence, problem-solving skills and other attributes that will benefit them as they transition into adulthood.
Next, they will look into how they check in on the progress of Ambassadors of Compassion participants years after they’ve completed the program. Ultimately, the goal is to scale the program to reach a million students a year across the country. “That becomes a tipping point where we can really impact a lot of students,” says Eric.
That’s the ray of hope that shines through even the most discouraging of statistics.