Encountering New Life Forms: Meeting Adolescent Needs

1. Encountering New Life Forms: Meeting Adolescent Needs Meet the Millennials or Generation Y

2. Who ARE these people? • Why do they deserve special attention? • Why do they pose such challenges to us?

3. Development of the Person: • Primary needs • Unlearned • Secondary needs • Learned • Toward self-sufficiency • Toward self-actualization

4. Born in the ‘90’s Have credit/debit cards & are in debt Can multitask Grew up with the internet Are ethnically, racially diverse Spiritual/not religious Are unconventional eaters Are looking for causes Are more conventional: drugs, pregnancy down Not angry w/Church Stressed/busy Have been exposed to rites of passage early( 25% of 15-24 yr-olds have had HPV -NYTimes 2/3/07) Who ARE these people? Gen Y

5. Aspirations/Attitudes of Gen Y 2005 1967 1967 2005 Source: USA Today 1/10/07

6. Attitudes • 54% have posted pictures of themselves on internet • 44% have an internet profile • 67% believe immigrants strengthen society (vs. 47% 41-60) • 47% favor same sex marriage (vs.30% over 25) • 32% attend church at least once/week • 48% identify with Democratic party • 36% have a tattoo; 30% body piercing; 25% hair dyed a non-traditional color Source: USA Today 1/10/07

7. Think, for a minute: • When were you allowed to: • Stay out all night? • Attend an unchaperoned party/dance? • Date exclusively? • Have friends spend the night? • Have money of your own? • Drink alcoholic beverages? Our adolescents have done these earlier than we.

8. Strommen’s Five Cries of Youth • The cry of the unloved • The cry of the orphan • The cry of social protest • The cry of prejudice • The cry of the joyful

9. The Cry of the Unloved • They are more focused on crucifixion than resurrection • Looking for love in all the wrong places • Not sure where they fit. • Have achieved alienation and anomie from the Internet. • May have gender identity issues

10. The cry of the orphan • Stuck between dependence and independence • They are quite different from their parents’ generation • They have been left alone since they were very young • They have been “scheduled” for a long time.

11. The Cry of Social Protest • More diverse, racially, ethnically, than any other generation. • Conventional in outlook; their aspirations are very conservative (they want to be “rich”). • Sense of tolerance: it’s cool to be Catholic, whatever that means. • They want what we gave up in the ‘60’s

12. The Cry of Prejudice • Have been raised to be intolerant; but when with peers, are very tolerant. • Consider themselves the center of the universe; can’t understand why they are not. • Build frameworks, and then decide if they want to be there.

13. The Cry of the Joyful • They are happy, conformist, want to be a part of the group • Want to know how to channel joy and not feel guilty • Want a sense of hope and optimism.

14. God of LOVE More emotion No coherent Church culture No need to prove themselves Love the Church; ignore doctrine Choose tolerance God of JUSTICE More doctrine A culture entwined Attention to spiritual growth, “Points” Love the Church, pick and choose doctrine Look for authority Generational Difference: the Church Teens Parents

15. What do Catholic teens believe? : 91% believe bread & wine become Body & Blood of Christ 62% take seriously the pronouncements of the Pope 77% say they can be good Catholics without going to church 56% say that they can be good Catholics without donating time or money to help the poor. 93% believe that Jesus was the Son of God 55% believe that the Catholic Church is the “one true church” 72% believe that you can be a good Catholic & not agree with Church teaching on birth control, 65% disagree with Church teaching on divorce & remarriage, 53% say you can disagree with Church teaching on abortion.

16. Teens Pray Often... (2004: American Bible Society)

17. Teens Believe in Power of Prayer Teens use: Personal Prayer:54% Lord’s Prayer: 22% Other type: 11% (2004: American Bible Society)

18. Nearly 90% of US teens say there is an overall purpose to their lives (2004 Gallup Survey)

19. Worries of Adolescents 56% school performance 22% my parents might divorce 53% looks 21% I may die soon 48% others like me 19% sexual abuse 47% one parent might die 18% trouble from friends 45% how I’m treated by friends 38% societal ills 15% parent’s drinking 36% violence at school 12% getting beat up at school 35% I might lose a friend 11% I might kill myself 35% drugs/alcohol 30% might not get a good job 26% body normality 25% US nuked (Source: Gallup Poll, 2001)

20. Despair: a problem for teens Percentage of teens who say they felt so hopeless that they made suicide plans in 2004: Males: 14.1% Females: 18.9% Source: Center for Disease Control: Youth at Risk Survey

21. 1. Achieving mature relations with age-mates of both sexes; 2. Achieving a masculine or feminine identity; 3. Accepting one’s body; 4. Achieving emotional independence 5. Selecting & preparing for career; 6. Achieving financial independence; 7. Preparing for marriage & family life 8. Socially responsible behavior 9. Ethics & set of values. Self-development tasks

22. Teen self-image: Girls vs.Boys (G:58%;B:40%) (G:47%;B:43%) (G:62%;B:48%) Focus on positives Change appearance Talk w/family, friends Source: FGI Research, 10/04

23. Develop & apply abstract thinking skills Develop empathy Develop new coping skills;e.g.: problem solving, conflict resolution Identify meaningful moral standards Understand & express complex emotional experiences Form close friendships Establish key aspects of identity Meet demands of increasingly mature roles & responsibilities Renegotiate relationships with adults in parenting roles More adolescent tasks:

24. Teens at work:

25. Some Adolescent Issues • Sleep • Sex • Self-image • Comfort • Independence • Peers • Ethics

26. Some questions for you: • Whichoftheseissuesismostprevalentinyourclassrooms: • Sleep • Sex • Self-Image • Peerpressure • Aimlessness (failuretohave goals) • Ethics (cheating, covering for peers, etc.) • Other???

27. How do we encounter them? Where? • Listen, listen, listen • Stick with them • Keep asking questions • Take them seriously • Dare them to dream • Give undivided time • Understand that they are unfinished beings Why? When How? What?

28. Have we asked the right questions? • Are they critical thinkers? • Are they self-directed? • Do they have a moral center? • What do they consider are their responsibilities to the world? • What are their attitudes towards others? Towards global issues?

30. Some questions for you: • Is there a disconnect between your students’ lives in school & out of school? • Have you been surprised by their attitude? • What do they say about their beliefs? Their aspirations? Their hopes? Their fears? • What do they want from teachers? Parents? Friends? • When they come back, what do they say about their experience in this school?

31. The voices of teens “Many of us see our teachers more than we see our parents. I think that teachers need to realize that they are a part of our lives as much as they are. Yes, our parents are important, but teachers are also because we see them so much. -9th grade girl

32. The voices of teens “Maybe we are more cynical. But I think this generation is also a lot smarter. We will accomplish a lot. We’re going to surprise a lot of people.” 12th grade girl “We’re a lot better than they think we are.” 11th grade boy

33. What do they ask? • They want us to be present to their “unfolding”. • They want us to be joyful witnesses to our own lives. • They want openness, honesty, dialogue. • They want adult mentors. • They want basic catechesis. • They want to claim an authentic belief system. • They want social justice • They want authentic faith encounters.

34. Questions for Catholic educators: • How will we connect with young people? • How will we witness to our (and their) ideals? • How will we “ground them” in faith and religion? Is faith enough? • How will we give them hope and optimism? • How will we inspire them?

35. Some questions: • How will we keep teens connected with Church? • What are some issues we need to confront when we attempt to provide a truly Catholic education to teens? • How will we successfully infuse our culture with our belief?

36. Questions: • What programs do we need to design in order to help our teens to deal with their self-development tasks? • What new roles do teachers need to play? • What does the phrase: schools need to be judged not by whom they take in but whom they put out” mean to you?

38. Secondary needs • Gregariousness • Aggression • Affiliation • Inquisitiveness • Power • Achievement • Status

39. Gregariousness • Social beings • Need to belong: • Homeroom may be home • Need to know teacher loves them • Need to be part of the team • Have the “second family”

40. The voices of teens “More than anything, our youth culture responds to positive feedback from the media and adults. Often the only feedback we’re getting is negative. I have many friends who feel like they’re taken for granted, because the troublemakers get all the attention. The people who are doing what they should be doing are overlooked.” - 12th grade girl

41. Aggression • The need to assert, carve out territory, have “turf”. • Allow opinions to be expressed • Involve them in problem solving • Let them “own territory” • Acknowledge their presence & uniqueness

42. Affiliation • Need to associate • Boys/girls and relationships • Friendships, sense of loyalty • School spirit • Belonging/gangs

43. Inquisitiveness: the need to know • Relation of learning to life • “senioritis” • Curiosity

44. The voices of teens “ You are who you hang around with. Before, parents made you who you are. Now, teens are pretty much defined by their friends. I see my mom maybe an hour a day and not at all on weekends.” -11th grade girl

45. Power: the need for identity • Decision-making • Graffiti, Dare-devil antics, gangs • Being seen • Making a name for oneself

46. The voices of teens “it’s cool to see your name on the broadcast monitor in the cafeteria or in the local paper because you scored the winning basket. No one is going to get on the PA and say ‘Susie got an A in Spanish.’” -11th grade boy

47. Achievement • Need for recognition for something specific • Motivation: boys vs. girls • Creation of Rites of Passage

48. The voices of teens “It seems that often the adults in our society are quick to blame the teenagers and tell us to take responsibility for our individual actions. Our problems have a lot to do with the role models in our society. If we’re not being praised or perceived as doing the right things, then we’re going to turn to other forms of attention.” -12th grade girl

49. Status • The need to be somebody • Demonstrate students’ power over their status • Value all kinds of talent • Notice them outside the classroom

50. The voices of teens “We have a problem here; a certain percentage of the students do everything in the school. A certain percentage are in the higherclasses; they also play sports, they’re in clubs and they are also the leaders in our school. I think the rest of the kids feel alienated. -12th grade girl