About 3 weeks ago, I got asked to deliver a series of talks on ‘having a positive attitude’ to different groups of level 1 and 2 learners at my local Further Education College. I had a great experience with the students I saw, but was struck by how needed the talks are for this generation of young people who face huge challenges.
You never really know with young people how they are feeling on any day, do you? You just hope you come across as approachable – on ‘their’ level to reach them. Anyway I started off with an ice-breaker to warm them up; which asked them to think of a positive word that best described them using the 1st letter of their name. Interesting eh? In all of the groups, they initially laughed, but gradually saw the value. I realised it was alien for them to think about something positive about themselves; I certainly got their attention!
‘Having a positive attitude’ is interactive, because I believe for anything like this to be meaningful to young people, you have to invite them to be active participants and take responsibility in their learning to achieve their goals; it can’t be about me ‘telling’ them what I think. Anyway, we talked about where their attitudes come from, and how it impacts the ability to learn effectively, people around them and society at large. Within these contexts, we talked about how they were going to achieve their goals and the future.
Majority of the students were young men, and were honest about their opinions, which really made it easier for me to challenge mindsets and get them to come to their own conclusions about their future. Someone said “You can always teach people skills but the attitude is what they need to deliver”.
Did I win everyone over? No but almost! The feedback was a very good indicator of how much of an impact I made – I definitely struck a cord there! After one session, one young man actually walked up to me to say ‘thank you’ for everything we talked about. I was humbled because I could see on his face that he got it! You see young people are not all bad; you just have to find a way to relate to them and their circumstances. The written comments were equally as complimentary, and I was thrilled that it was worth their time.
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This sounds like something that all kids in college should be talked to about! We see so much negativity about kids in the news and media… even on the streets. About time someone took a positive message to the kids! Imagine being a kid in this day and age… not a lot you can walk around feeling positive about? Actually there is… we just need more people like you telling them about it! Thanks. Please keep sharing…
This sounds like something that all kids in college should be talked to about. We see so much negativity about kids in the news and media… even on the streets. About time someone took a positive message to the kids. Imagine being a kid in this day and age… not a lot you can walk around feeling positive about? Actually there is… we just need more people like you telling them about it. Thanks. Please keep sharing…
Emma, I appreciate your comments. It is scary to see how many young people are looking for and waiting for someone to tell them it is going to be okay. I am certainly more determined to reach as many young people as possible.
I heard an attorney giving advice to a soon-to-be law student. His advice was find a mentor right away because your law school time will be better spent if you have some direction and you’ll more likely reach the finish line. Isn’t that true with all of us? Even the smallest amount of mentoring from someone older and more experienced can make so much of a difference of where we end up and how we think about the situations we’re in and the future we’re heading toward.