Picture this; there are three individuals that were raised in the same neighborhood; a 16 year old, 17 year old, and an 18 year old. All of the students attend the same high school. The 16 year old lives in a single parent home. Let’s call this young man Elijah. Elijah has had what some would call a very challenging life. His mother was once married to someone who abused the whole intermediate family. Elijah has always tried to stay positive; however he continues to think about his certain misfortunes. His mother has taught him not to allow his adversities to get the best of him; however it is still a work in progress. She has also taught him that he should learn how to continue being productive, while learning to deal with positive and negative situations in life. Elijah is seen as an individual that works well with others, asks questions, and helps those who need it.
Now, let’s take a look at the 17 year old female who lives with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend. Let’s call this young lady Lauren. Lauren’s mother uses illegal drugs, in which she constantly uses in front of her daughter and other chidren. The 17 year old has no motivation in going to school because it is not a requirement from her mother. Her mother never graduated from school, so why should she make her daughter do so? The coursework for Lauren’s junior year is getting extremely hard because she does not have anyone in the household who can help her complete the work. All Lauren can think about is smoking, having fun, and drinking alcohol. Lauren is contemplating dropping out of high school and having a baby. Her mother had her at 17, so she is thinking about doing the same thing because she does not need a diploma to get a job. Or does she? Lastly, let’s look at the 18 year old male who lives with his mother and father. Let’s call him James. James comes from a very supportive household. His mother and father have been very supportive in his life that some may think that they may have overdone it as parents. James’ mother has continually given him speeches about being independent and learning to do things on his own. She worked with him to schedule his classes for college; however she missed the most important lesson in helping him. She completed the tasks for him, which did not allow him to do these tasks on his own. Now, he relies on his mother to schedule all of his college courses. James’ father has taught his son how to be positive and win at everything that he did. What he fails to teach him is that it is ok to lose sometimes and that losing makes you look forward to the win. In failing to teach his son this important lesson, James’ father has disallowed James from feeling the negative experiences of losing. This can make or break James in the future.
Most of these examples given above have been slightly altered and may not represent current individuals that I work with. In thinking about the examples, do you know anyone that would fit into the same situation? I know you are also probably wondering what can you do to help motivate the youth. As a child, I remember constantly asking my mother, “how do you spell this word? What does this word mean?” My mother would answer some of my questions; however I was often told to look them up in the dictionary. What do you think this did to my motivation? As a child I thought, “why not just tell me what the word mean.” It was easier and definitely much faster. Today I say, “thank you mother for motivating me to look these words up.” In the present-day, when presented with information that I am not quite sure about, I will take it upon myself and look the information up. One of my previous employers stated that “you are a very diligent young lady who looks into finding the answers to many questions.” I truly thank my mother, father, and siblings for providing me with a variety of skills that I continue to use today.
No comments:
Post a Comment