As an educator and caring professional, you have a powerful role in the lives of adolescents and their families. After a child’s parents, you are an adult that will teach and guide them. You are there to answer their questions, listen to their problems and to watch your students grow.

I sat down with parents, educators, and community leaders, like you, to find out exactly what they thought adolescents and families need to grow and thrive in this world. They agreed that today’s youth need…

• Responsibility and accountability

• Resilience and adaptability

• Self-direction, self-discipline and self-management

• Creativity, initiative and problem-solving

• Roles models that inspire kindness, courage and respect.

Despite these responses , the need to foster resiliency and confidence in adolescents isn’t met because immediate needs are being dismissed.  Here’s a sampling of common thoughts from tweens and teens:

• “I wanna feel heard, like what I have to say is important.”

• “I need people to stop asking me about what I want to be when I grow up and ask me I want right now instead.”

• “I need someone to talk to, no lectures but someone who will actually listen.

• “I wish it was okay to say that I’m scared and worried and I’m not sure if anything is going to be okay.”

• “Well, it would be nice if people actually asked my opinion instead of telling me what to think or do.”

• “I need to to chill and not do anything; hang with friends, play video games, not everything needs to have a purpose.” 

• “I’m fine with rules. I know I need them but stop treating me like I’m 5 years old.

• “Trust me. I want, I need my parents and teachers to trust me and stop hovering over me.”

• “I need my parents and my teachers and my coaches to stop making me feel like I’m a disappointment or that I’m a bad kid.”

• “I dunno … I just want to feel like I’m okay.”

(Other comments included: “I want sleep,” “Less homework,” “burritos!,” and “a good iPhone charge.” 🙂  )

Adolescents are feeling consistently misunderstood at home or school. They feel that their ideas and feeling are often ignored or dismissed. One teen girl stated, “Just my very existence seem to be an inconvenience.”

You can change that.

Awareness, training, practice and outreach are the keys to this change. When you support adolescents with their immediate needs, you create confident, focused classrooms, families and communities.

I partner with schools and businesses, such as yours, to raise awareness and implement practices that help build deeper relationships in the workplace, at home and in the community.

▶︎ Staff Development Workshops: Educators, parent-teacher advocate groups and other caring professionals are an invaluable resource for supporting social, emotional and civic learning in adolescents.  Our staff development workshops help you identify social-emotional red flags and risk-factors affecting students and develop action plans that supporting a school culture of acceptance and resiliency.  (Please download our speakers kit for a listing of our current workshops.)

▶︎ Market Research: To engage with adolescents and their families,  you must better understand their needs, fears, hopes and desires. This knowledge helps you understand what drives their connection with your school culture or business brand. I understand how the adolescent market thinks, and I am able to ask the right questions to help you see the world the way adolescents do.

▶︎ Custom program and curriculum development. Developing social-emotional skills can lead to a decrease in depression, anxiety and aggression among students, increase resiliency, higher academic achievement, and an improved ability for all to function in schools and community. Together, we can create and implement a custom program or curriculum to address these five key areas -  self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible problem-solving /decision-making skills - and create a culture that meets the needs of educators, adolescents and parents.

▶︎ Spokesperson or media host capacity. I have a proven track record of connecting with an audience and getting the message out. I am able to provide straight-forward, witty and engaging guidance that aligns with your branding to influence and makes a positive difference in today’s youth and families.

Students who feel heard and valued are students who will thrive in the classroom, home and community. I am invested in understanding and meeting the needs of adolescents and your school or organization.

To learn more about how we can work together, please contact our offices.