Welcome to Rising Urban Leaders Enterprise! RULE is a student-run leadership organization founded to protect the spiritual, social, and academic integrity of our youth as they learn techniques to lead themselves and others.

In BBC's October 2018 Loneliness Experiment survey, we learned that 16 to 24-year-olds feel lonely and are the loneliest group of people across culture, countries, and gender.

The research was conducted by professors from the University of Manchester, Brunel University London, and the University of Exeter.

In this study, teens say the top reasons they feel lonely are:

• they have no one to talk to
• they feel disconnected from the world
• they feel left out
• they feel misunderstood

We also learned that many young people in the survey said they would essentially welcome solutions to loneliness.  And the most popular solution, they said, was finding distracting activities or dedicating time to work, study or hobbies.

In addition, reports published by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) show that loneliness, plus substance abuse, victimization, depression, and employment during the school year, often cause high school students to get poor grades, underperform, or drop out of school. 

Although this group might be a small segment of the student population, it is a significant group that is worth investing resources to reach and uplift.  

Here is the good news--studies show that extracurricular activities in which students participate and apply academic skills to real-life situations or learn values can decrease isolation and increase students' motivation to achieve higher test scores, higher grade point average, and higher education.

For example, Harvard Business Review published a study on February 21, 2017 that examined students’ involvement in leadership.  The co-authors of the article pointed to the importance of early leadership participation to develop students’ cognitive ability, self-confidence, motivation or drive.

So, what better way to help students succeed than to make it convenient for them to get involved in an extracurricular activity, such as RULE, where students’ needs are paramount and where students learn a strategy for going in the direction of their goals and dreams.

RULE's Support Team, then, will engage teens in activities that will enlighten their understanding of themselves and others through programs such as:

• Leadership
• Mentorship
• Volunteerism

In addition, RULE offers our teens an opportunity to collaborate with leaders to help them…

• Realize their individual purpose
• Build team harmony
• Set goals
• Prioritize action steps
• Develop a personal vision
• Plan community service projects
• Lead small groups
• Learn study skills

Therefore, when teens in high school give us 50 hours of their time, about one hour a week for a year, RULE will present a series of leadership training and offer incentives to empower students to build a plan for their future and build friendships along the way.

Based on students’ availability, groups of six students will come together by way of video communication or in-person interaction for 60 minutes once a week.  At each meeting, students will either set new goals or review old goals.  Morevoer, the team will celebrate each member’s progress and forecast potential obstacles. 

Also, each team will select a catchy name to call their group.  And each member of the team will have a leadership role that will be valuable for team harmony. 

And the best part is…

…high school students of ALL grades can join the Support Team.