September 28, 2023 Read Time:
StudentsConnecting
The media and trade press is filled lately with stories about today’s realities of adolescence—from the Learning Policy Institute’s “What Adolescents Are Teaching Us Post-Pandemic and Why We Should Listen” to The 74’s “How Are Kids Really Doing after COVID-19?” to the Boston Globe’s series on what it’s like to be a teenager these days to the New York Times’ article about teens’ use of social media.
Why this fascination with adolescence? I believe there are several reasons. First, those years represent a transitory stage often filled with angst and conflict to which we can all relate, because we’ve all been there. We all have memories of this bumpy yet necessary stage of life, some fond, and some that still make us shudder.
Second, many adolescents have taken a disproportionate hit in the pandemic, exacting a toll on their mental health in an already turbulent time. We adults want to help, but often don’t know how best to do so, and they don’t always know how to ask for what they need. Moreover, our toolkit is not yet as robust as it needs to be so our vulnerability is exposed.
Finally, I believe that, despite society’s tendency to focus on the dramatic and disruptive behaviors of adolescence, we know that adolescents are the truth tellers in our midst. They hold a mirror to the adult world. A part of us wants to hear their stories, while another part may want to push away their troubling messages about the state of the world as they see it.
We stand to gain so much from listening deeply to the adolescents in our lives. At ECLC we are designing learning experiences with this need in mind. Check our Learning Agenda to learn more about Count on Us! and Reimagining Middle School, both of which focus on supporting educators to create the optimal conditions for students to learn, grow, and thrive. Please join us!
