School psychologists are becoming more and more involved in helping our youth to learn better coping strategies, decision making skills, and develop tolerance with others. According to Elias (2002), school psychologists are valuable resources for early adolescents to learn skills necessary to avoid high-risk behaviors, including alcohol and drug abuse, increased sexual activity, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases. Elias goes onto explain how these behaviors are preventable and that school psychologists can become instrumental in leading these prevention efforts. Goleman (1995) explains that social and emotional intelligence can be a more accurate predictor of life success than IQ. It would be appropriate, therefore, for schools to give students instruction and guidance in order for students to learn tools to become more socially and emotionally competent. This paper will discuss the developmental needs of early adolescents and how the school psycholoigst can help prevent some of the problem behaviors stated above and can hopefully promote greater social awareness, self awareness, and social competence. Through collaboration efforts, school psychologists can help provide group assemblies to address these issues which in turn can lead to healthier and better adjusted youth, and hopefully higher levels of achievement in school. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]