Research Paper By Carol Keith
(Life Coaching, UNITED STATES)
Can teens benefit from coaching?
In an article by Leanne Italie, dated November 7, 2011 entitled
Teens Turn to Life Coaches to Cope With Pressures1,
Italie comments that
Life coaching can lend valuable breathing room for kids from the cheerleading, criticism or advice that parents and therapists might normally provide.
John Williams, former middle school and high school Latin teacher, says,
kids are not getting a lot of the essential skills I wish I had gotten, like the ability to understand a default perspective and how to shift that perspective, or just to be aware of what your top three values are, how to allocate your time, or how do you feel about certain relationships and assumptions made in relationship?2
Teens today seem to have the world at their feet. Technology has measurably increased a teen’s ability to see and know more about the world around them.
But, are they in a better place than prior generations?
Technology has significantly reduced a teen’s ability to know themselves adequately, communicate effectively or to engage fully in the world around them.
In a world where young people define themselves by the number of “friends” they have on Facebook, the number of Instagram LIKES they get or the number of TWEETS they receive on Twitter, the danger of a teen feeling lacking or ordinary is quite high.
Additionally, the current craze over reality television has paraded the bizarre and mocked the ordinary life. Young people today are bombarded with the message that in order to be successful you need notoriety. In order to grab fame by the horns, you need to do, or say, something bizarre and preserve it on picture media.
Today’s teens know very little about themselves and even less about the thousands of people they call “friends”. Social media may be killing social skills!
Lightening speed technology allows little time to formulate an appropriate response much less time for the stillness and contemplation required for effective self-awareness. The Universe surrenders to a mind that is still. Today’s teens have an atrophied perseverance muscle.
As is evidenced by a quick glance at the evening news on any given day, our international socio-economic and political climate is not getting any easier.
It is incumbent on us to make an effort to give our young people HOPE and SKILLS that will carry them through their lives and equip them to have a lasting impact on the world they leave to the next generation.
I believe that a glimmer of HOPE and the SKILL training comes packaged in the Path Elements ProfileTM, Path4TeensTM, and Path4KidsTM , by Laurie Beth Jones, step by step curriculum(s) for young people from age 8 through age 19, serving as a springboard for a vibrant teen coaching practice.