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Ellis Abel Learns.
Worry and the News icon — Ellis Abel Learns Book 4, discernment, for children ages 7-14

Ages 7-14 · Book 4, Discernment · 4,299 places

Worry and the News

A child carrying a news cycle they cannot act on, and a way to put it down that is not pretending it is not there.

Built on Ellis Abel and the Two Wolves Within — “Choose what you feed within.” A character series, not a curriculum with a worldview attached.

The five sessions

  1. Session 1

    Audit one real day of inputs, honestly, adults included

  2. Session 2

    Read the story and name the choice point inside it

  3. Session 3

    Learn the one check: who made this, and what do they want

  4. Session 4

    Apply the check to something they actually watch

  5. Session 5

    Set the family or class rule they helped write

Questions leaders ask

Is worry and the news in your area a religious program?

No. Ellis Abel is a character series. Each volume carries one named core value — this one is discernment — and the story does the teaching. There is no doctrine in it, nothing to opt out of, and it is used in public schools, libraries and secular programs as readily as anywhere else.

What ages does this work for?

Ages 7-14. The story is read aloud, so a child who cannot read yet is fully in it, and the discussion prompts are written in two bands so one adult can hold a mixed-age room.

Will this work for the children in your area who need it most?

It is built to. Participation is allowed to look different — listening from the edge of the room counts, and so does leaving early. Nothing in the session requires reading, speaking, or sitting still to take part.

Where do we start if we have never run anything like this?

One child and one adult who keeps the pairing. Not a program. Build the good half-hour for that child first, and let the second family hear about it from the first.

The rules that make it work

This takes no side on any platform

No app is named as good or bad. That is what makes it usable in a public school, and it is also what makes it still true in three years.

Teach the question, not the rule

Rules expire when the technology changes. "Who made this and what do they want from me" works on something that has not been invented yet.

The child writes the rule

A limit imposed from above is complied with until it can be evaded. A limit a child helped write is one they can explain to a friend.

Adults do the inventory too

A grown-up listing their own real day, honestly, in front of the children, is the moment the session stops being a telling-off.

Self-talk is an input

The harshest voice most children hear is their own, and it is on the list with everything else because it works the same way.

Nobody is shamed for their list

The first honest inventory is always ugly. A room that reacts to that is a room that will only ever see edited lists afterwards.

Worry and the News by metro area

Northeast

Midwest

South

West

Cities and all 3,143 US counties are covered too — every place page is live. The campaign sitemap lists every one.

Related programs

Negative Self-Talk icon — Ellis Abel Learns Book 4, discernment, for children ages 6-16Self-TalkAges 6-16The Inner Critic icon — Ellis Abel Learns Book 4, discernment, for children ages 8-16Inner CriticAges 8-16Comparing Yourself to Everyone icon — Ellis Abel Learns Book 4, discernment, for children ages 8-16ComparisonAges 8-16What the Feed Says About You icon — Ellis Abel Learns Book 4, discernment, for children ages 10-16Feeds and Self-ImageAges 10-16Performing Online icon — Ellis Abel Learns Book 4, discernment, for children ages 10-16Performing OnlineAges 10-16

The rest of the series

Book 1AccountabilityBig feelings. Small choices. Real accountability.Book 2BelongingBeing brave means showing up anyway.Book 3ConfidenceTurn fear into confidence, one step at a time.Book 5EmpathyWhat matters more than earning a Gold Star?Book 6FaithDifference isn’t weakness. It’s a gift.