Adolescent Issues
The Adolescent Issues program is an important part of the LREI middle school educational experience. In general, The Adolescent Issues program has three goals. They are:
- to help students develop good discussion skills. This includes the ability to explain themselves clearly and the more difficult skill of active and effective listening.
- to provide student with factual information about, and opportunities for discussion on, a wide variety of topics important to pre-adolescents and adolescents.
- to provide the skills for, and opportunities to practice, reflective and informed decision making connected to students’ values and beliefs.
We achieve these goals through our weekly Adolescent Issues meetings. These meetings are led by the homeroom advisors, me (fifth and sixth grades) and Phil (seventh and eighth grades). During the first half of the school year, the faculty and the students choose the discussion topics. Throughout the year the fifth grade will continue to have their weekly meeting with a wide range of topics. Starting in January, the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades began the personal safety, sexuality, substance abuse, and portion of the Adolescent Issues program. Below you will find a list of the general areas of discussion for these meetings.
- Values and their role in decision making
- Sexuality and sexual/gender stereotypes
- Puberty, reproductive anatomy, and physiology
- Responsibilities of sexual activity
- Relationships
- Peer Pressure and refusal strategies
- Substance abuse
- Personal safety
Though the general topics are the same throughout the grades, the actual content and activities differ with the age of the students. However, all of the discussions are based in the belief that as we cannot make all of children’s decisions for them, we must help them to become informed and responsible decision makers. Current discussion and activities include:
Fifth Grade — The fifth grade spent much of the first two quarters discussing issues related to the transition to middle school. We framed these discussions by making a philosophical inquiry into the meaning of terms like friendship, responsibility, happiness and justice. Our discussions focused on the responsibilities that come with the independence that is part of the middle school experience. We have also spent a fair amount of time talking about friendships and the many pressures that can exert a push or pull on these relationships. We are concluding a unit on bullying and teasing and will end the year exploring a range of diversity-related themes.
Sixth Grade — The sixth grade started the year with discussions based on our reading of Jarvis Clutch – Social Spy, which took a humorous and thoughtful look at some of the challenges associated with “fitting in and feeling good about it.” Through this investigation, we examined some of the pressures associated with social challenges like “seeming right,” “talking right” and “acting right.” We also examined how these issues relate to strategies that can be used to deal with peer pressure and to resolve conflicts effectively. We then explored a range of safety issues (e.g., walking home alone, subway safety and home safety). We are currently in the midst of a unit on Internet safety and clarifying norms for on-line interactions with peers. We will end the year with units on smoking and puberty and sexuality.
Seventh Grade–At this point in the seventh grade, the focus of Adolescent Issues is on supporting the students as they learn to make decisions that are based on their values and to practice making a variety of decisions with increasing independence. We spent some time early in the new year identifying individual student’s values and discussing how to navigate situations in which a student’s values might be in conflict with those of a friend. We also spent some time discussing rights and responsibilities of members of the class–a Bill of Rights for Seventh Graders. As part of this discussion, we explored how peers can help and support a friend who may be having a difficult time. In the weeks to come, we will discuss issues of substance abuse and begin discussions of puberty and sexuality.
Eighth Grade–The Eighth Grade has had a variety of discussions this year in Adolescent Issues including conversations about being safe on-line. We all learned about the opportunities and pitfalls of social networks and considered how our values can guide us through complexities posed by on-line communication. Like the seventh graders, we also explored how peers can help and support a friend who may be having a difficult time. In the coming weeks we will begin discussions of puberty and adolescence.
We feel that an important part of this program is the on-going discussion and learning that will hopefully take place at home. We encourage students to discuss the class topics with you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the Adolescent Issues program.
Adolescent Issues For Parents
Suggested Bibliography
The list below is made up of books that we have in the school’s resource collections and that have been suggested by middle school families. The books cover a variety of topics and age ranges. While I have not read all of the books listed here, all are well respected and have been recommended by people I trust. I have many of them in my office and all are available at major booksellers. (Descriptions were copied without permission from Amazon.com.)
Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children by Michael Thompson, Catherine O’Neill Grace, Lawrence J. Cohen. Not since Dr. Spock or Penelope Leach has there been such a sensitive and practical guide to raising healthy children and this one doesn’t end at potty training. Child therapists Thompson (co-author of bestseller Raising Cain) and Cohen (Playful Parenting) have teamed up with Washington Post columnist and children’s writer Grace (all three are parents) to describe the social lives of kids and the appropriate roles of parents, teachers and school administrators. They explore the stages of children’s development, from parent-bonded to quasi-asocial toddler, the learning-the-rules phase in elementary school and adolescent and romantic bonding.
Changing Bodies, Changing Lives: A Book for Teens on Sex and Relationships
by Ruth Bell Alexander, Ruth Bell. “It seems like everyone else has the script. Everyone else knows what’s happening and I look around and say, Duh.” Of course, the truth is that no one has the script because there is no script to follow. Chances are you’d find that almost everyone else has questions and worries a lot like yours, if you could get them to admit it. This brand-new, completely updated and revised edition of Changing Bodies, Changing Lives is full of honest, accurate, nonjudgmental information on everything teenagers… (For older middle schoolers/high schoolers)
Get Out of My Life, but First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall?: A Parent’s Guide to the New Teenager: Revised and Updated by Anthony E. Wolf. This is a survival guide for parents who find themselves marooned among volatile and incomprehensible aliens on Planet Teen. Area maps cover the obvious ground–there are chapters on school, sex, suicide, and so on–but it’s the title of Chapter 2, “What They Do and Why,” that best captures the book’s spirit and technique.
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish, Kimberly A. Coe (Illustrator). How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk is an excellent communication tool kit based on a series of workshops developed by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. Faber and Mazlish (co-authors of Siblings Without Rivalry) provide a step-by-step approach to improving relationships in your house.
It’s a Girl Thing: How to Stay Healthy, Safe, and in Charge by Mavis Jukes, Debbie Tilley (Illustrator). An easy-to-read magazine-style guide for girls age 10 to 14 on “staying healthy, safe and in-charge.” Mavis Jukes covers everything from how to buy a bra to birth control, from sexually transmitted diseases to coping with the unexpected onset of a period away from home.
It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health by Robie Harris. In a starred review, PW said, “this intelligent, amiable and carefully researched book… frankly explains the physical, psychological, emotional and social changes that occur during puberty.” Emberley’s watercolor and pencil art “reinforces [the] message that bodies come in all sizes, shapes and colors-and that each variation is `perfectly normal.’ ”
Parenting 911: How to Safeguard and Rescue Your 10 to 15 Year-Old from Substance Abuse, Sexual Encounters….and Other Risky Situations by Charlene C. Giannetti, Margaret Sagarese. An emergency guide for the tough issues parents of 10- to 15-year-olds face every day.
The Period Book: Everything You Don’t Want to Ask (But Need to Know) by Karen Gravelle and Jennifer Gravelle. Called “warm and positive” by Booklist, this user-friendly book about menstruation and puberty doesn’t just give the facts, ma’am: it addresses many private worries that girls may have a hard time talking about and offers truly practical tips that most girls have had to figure out for themselves — the hard way. Light-hearted cartoon illustrations help keep the tone sympathetic and upbeat.
The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids
by Barbara Strauchu. Strauch, medical science and health editor at the New York Times, sets out to offer reassurance to parents baffled by their kids’ seemingly irrational and erratic behavior. She discusses the latest research, including brain scans that show changes in the brain’s structure and function that could explain the crazy behavior exhibited by teens. In addition to reviewing various research projects around the country, Strauch also includes discussions with both parents and teenagers.
Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys (Ballantine Reader’s Circle)
by Daniel J. Kindlon, Michael Thompson, Dan Kindlon, Teresa Barker (Contributor).
In Raising Cain, Dan Kindlon, Ph.D., and Michael Thompson, Ph.D., two of the country’s leading child psychologists, share what they have learned in more than thirty-five years of combined experience working with boys and their families.
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls (Ballantine Reader’s Circle)
by Mary Pipher. With sympathy and focus she cites case histories to illustrate the struggles required of adolescent girls to maintain a sense of themselves…Pipher offers concrete suggestions for ways by which girls can build and maintain a strong sense of self.
The Safe Zone: A Kid’s Guide to Personal Safety by Donna Chaiet, Francine Russell, Lillian Gee (Illustrator). Have you ever had to deal with a stranger who made you feel uncomfortable or been threatened by a bully in the schoolyard? Did you know that there are things you can do now that will help you be better prepared the next time around? Most people think self-defense means fighting, but the best defense has nothing to do with hitting, kicking, or punching. In this book, written by two prominent personal safety instructors, you will discover how to protect yourself by being aware of your surroundings.
Sex and Sensibility: The Thinking Parent’s Guide to Talking Sense About Sex by Deborah M. Roffman. Deborah Roffman, a longtime teacher of sexual education for both children and adults, has assembled a thorough book that attempts to address moral and physical issues for every age. The Thinking Parent’s Guide to Talking Sense About Sex is decidedly not for those whose sex speech begins and ends with “just say no.” Roffman’s take on sexual education is that it is a lifelong exploration that should encompass changing cultural values and an individual’s personally evolving ethics as well as the practical facts of proper health care. Put plainly in one section’s title, “sexuality is about people, not body parts.”
What’s Happening to My Body? Book for Boys : A Growing Up Guide for Parents and Sons by Lynda Madaras, Area Madaras (Contributor), Simon Sullivan (Illustrator), Jackie Aher, Martin Anderson. “Hanging Low, Keeping Cool,” “A Hairy Question,” “Feeling Private/Feeling Guilty,” “You Don’t See Any Blind, Crazy Morons Around Here, Do Ya?” Can you guess what all these chapter titles are about? Give you a hint: everything you ever wanted to know about (but were afraid to ask)… You got it, boys and puberty! Author Lynda Madaras and her daughter Area Madaras have expanded and updated their sensitive, detailed, often witty guide for boys on the cusp of adolescence.
What’s Happening to My Body? Book for Girls : A Growing Up Guide for Parents and Daughters by Lynda Madaras, Area Madaras (Contributor), Simon Sullivan (Illustrator), Jackie Aher, Marcia Herman-Giddens. “I kept wanting it to happen. When it did I remember thinking, ‘It’s about time.'” “I was worried at first. Then it really wasn’t so bad after all.” “I remember my brothers weren’t allowed to hit me in the chest anymore. I was kind of pleased about that.” What mysterious condition are these now grown-up girls talking about? Ah, yes, puberty! With scads of personal stories and an abundance of useful, detailed information about girls’ changing bodies and feelings, author Lynda Madaras and her daughter Area Madaras have expanded their guide for girls on the verge of change.
What Do You Stand For?: A Kid’s Guide to Building Character by Barbara A. Lewis, Pamela Espeland (Editor). This new book by the author of “The Kid’s Guide to Social Action” empowers children and teens to identify and build the character traits that are most important to them. True stories profile kids who exemplify positive traits and inspiring quotations set the stage for kids to think about, discuss and debate positive traits. (This book is published by Free Spirit Publishing. We buy many different titles from this thoughtful company. www.freespirit.com)