It’s easy for young men, particularly from disadvantaged communities, to become angry and afraid. It’s easy for them to follow negative influences that lead to serious trouble. It’s easy for them to drop out of school.

Becoming A Man (BAM) is a two-year, school-based program that supports young men through weekly group sessions with their peers and the guidance of a trauma-informed BAM counselor. Counselors use check-ins, stories, role-playing and group missions to help these young men learn, practice and internalize the program’s six core values: Integrity, Self-determination, Accountability, Respect for womanhood, Positive anger expression, and Visionary goal-setting. The BAM Curriculum develops social cognitive skills including: self-awareness, emotional regulation, responsible decision making and social awareness that deters criminal involvement and increases school engagement. Counselors are culturally competent, often reflecting the demographic of the students they work with, and act as positive male role models, in addition to being trained counselors.

BAM was selected as the 11th portfolio organization in Boston for its proven ability to improve life outcomes, particularly for young men of color. Randomized control trials have shown BAM to reduce total arrests by 35 percent, violent crime arrests by 50 percent and increase on-time graduation by 19 percent for its students.

BAM is a program of Youth Guidance, an organization that creates and implements school-based programs that enable at-risk children to overcome obstacles, focus on their education and, ultimately, achieve success in school and in life.