The teenage ‘experience’ is transforming itself at a pace almost impossible to keep up with. Popular culture moves faster than ever and social media of course continues to shake things up. How do you navigate this incredibly tumultuous and transformative time, and what are the academic stages you need to be aware of?
I want to look at the GCSE and A Level exams now looming ever larger on the horizon, and, more widely, to the teenage and young adult years which none of my articles have so far focused on.
One of the inherent difficulties of discussing this, and I speak from my own personal experiences raising four children that are six years apart, is that the teenage ‘experience’ is transforming itself at a pace almost impossible to keep up with. Popular culture moves faster than ever and social media of course continues to shake things up.
One teenager’s MSN messenger in 2008 was another’s Facebook in 2012 is another’s Instagram today, and what comes next is difficult to imagine. For young people, the possibilities continue to prove intoxicating.
I, for one, believe that recent technologies have only added to the clichéd teenage conception that school is tedious, often dull and uninspiring. In a sense, who can blame today’s young adults for thinking this?
They are, after all, growing up in a wonderful age of human change, with exciting, thrilling possibilities around every corner, and we must keep in mind that many of the jobs they will take on as adults have not yet been invented or perhaps even imagined.
The feverish excitement and promises of today’s smartphone age clearly cut a very obvious contrast with the drab daily routine of school life.
One remedy for this problem which I advocate wholeheartedly, and I believe many schools are beginning to offer are more unusual ‘out of the box’ subjects to better engage our teenagers, and prepare them for the ever-changing world they are growing into.
I am reminded of schools that now focus far more on forward-looking subjects like computer science, or those dedicating lessons to teaching students invaluable ‘soft’ skills like decision-making and empathy.
At home, families with teenagers face different, if not equally demanding challenges. Many of us with older children are all too familiar with how it goes: hormones kick in, dynamics are altered, disagreements increase and tempers invariably ignite.
Today, our teenagers often find a comforting escape from day-to-day angst online, with screen-time invariably increasing as hormones kick in. In my opinion, this can compound the already difficult sense of disconnection between parent and child in these years.
The subsequent antagonism and friction we experience with our teenagers can lead us to question the very way in which we communicate with them.
These tensions can also bring out less savoury behaviour from all parties involved — cue shouting at unspeakably high decibels, slamming of doors and that unpleasant Groundhog Day feeling!
This doesn’t last forever and, as parents, we must maintain our patience. We should always remember the multifold pressures that teenagers of today are dealing with, and how fragile their self-belief can be in these years.
It is vital that we continue to motivate them, engage with them in all aspects of life helping to build their confidence.
Crucially, these young adults will grow up not only wanting to secure a good job and a high income, but also with a keen sense of duty to their communities and the planet as a whole. Your role to this end will be in providing a comforting home environment, and in actively guiding your teenager towards the self-regulation to work independently, and the inner-resilience to move forward in the face of adversity.
As a parent, staying on top of your teenager’s schooling is vital. They may have left primary school and gained some (really important!) independence, but you should still keep a watchful eye on their progress, by having regular conversations with them and their teachers.
Some teenagers discover an inner drive to achieve and thus are better accommodated by a more laissez-faire approach, but others may need you to give them a nudge, or even a push, to get going and disperse any fears they may be holding.
Regardless, as a parent, it is critical that you remain vigilant and in the know, so that you can be on hand to provide any appropriate support. To this end, below is some of the vital exam information, so that you can be better informed about the challenges ahead.
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