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Guidance for Grown-Ups
September 2006
Getting Real about Going Back to School
This Discussion Guide contains the following Activity Sections:
- The Answers to Your Questions
- Problem Solving: Exploring Options, Giving Advice
- Make a Historical and Global Connection: Changing Options
I. The Answers to Your Questions
The purpose of this activity is to ask teens to reflect on their expectations when starting a new school year, especially during times of major transition, such as the first year of high school.
- Here are some questions for a group discussion to open up the topics of school, expectations, why we form expectations, and how they influence us: What comes to mind when you hear the words ‘back to school’? What about ‘high school’? What kinds of goals do you have at the beginning of a school year? What are your hopes? What are your expectations? What is expected of you? What do you feel like you're supposed to look forward to in high school? Why do you feel that way? Is there anything about the start of the year that makes you anxious? What are you not looking forward to?
- Ask the teens to read "Freshman Fantasy" by Kimberly Canter. Then ask them to take a piece of paper, divide it into two columns, and make a list of sentences or phrases from the essay that are most true and examples that are less true. For example, "Throughout my childhood, I was told how wonderful and amazing high school would be"could be in one column; "dream of being a Homecoming Queen" could be in a column, etc.
- Ask the teens to brainstorm every television show with kids in high school. Even old shows, like "Wonder Years," or really old shows like "What's Happening" count. One teen could write all of the show's names on a board. Open up a discussion about which show is most like their lives during high school? Which show is least like their lives? Ask the teens to reflect on their lists about what felt true in Kimberly's essay. Are any of the shows on the board telling stories that reflect their truth?
Resources
• Listing of television shows with youth/teen characters.
• Listing of Top 50 teen movies, according to critics at Entertainment Weekly,
September 15, 2006.
*Please note: the lists are not exhaustive. The teens may know of additional titles not listed.
II. Problem Solving: Exploring Options, Giving Advice
The purpose of this activity is to help teens identify the source of expectations, when expectations are beneficial and when they are harmful, and how to be realistic about expectations during times of change.
- In an effort to identify where expectations come from, have the students complete the following sentences either in pairs or on paper:
My mom thinks I should___________________________
My dad thinks I should___________________________
My best friend thinks I should___________________________
My doctor thinks I should___________________________
My science teacher thinks I should___________________________
My favorite magazine thinks I should___________________________
_____________thinks I should___________________________
I think I should___________________________
Next, ask the students to choose one expectation that they think is really good for them, and one that is potentially bad, and then have them guess at a reason for it by adding "because ____________________________________". For example, one could say: "My mom thinks I should go to college because she went to college." "My science teacher thinks I should study because she gives me homework." "My favorite magazine thinks I should become a writer because it publishes what I write."
"Worst Case Scenario" - Ask one teen to share her worst case scenario of how the school year could go wrong and ask the group to role-play the worst possible day. One person plays the teen. (She could play herself!) Her character has to have at least one other "ally", a person who will help her through the day. Participants can play teachers, fellow students, coaches, or other people from school. Let the students know it's OK to laugh during the role-play; the goal is to have fun and to think creatively about how badly things can go and how the teen will make it through. Another option is to play "Best Case Scenario". Make sure the role-play includes a celebration for the teen reaching some kind of major goal!
Sometimes the beginning of the school year can be a time of endings. Relationships made over the summer become less feasible or with a change in activities, classes, or teams, new friends are made and old ones are left behind. Ask the teens to read "Top 10 Conversation Pointers on How to End a Relationship" out loud. Ask them to clap (or make some other kind of indication of approval) for each tip they think they'll use.
Website
• Teens can explore the world of improv, to help with the role-play, by visiting
www.improvcomedy.org
Book
• 101 Improv Games for Children and Adults, by Bob Bedore and Ian Barkley
III. Make a Historical and Global Connection: Changing Options
The purpose of this activity is to imagine how your expectations of school or relationships could differ if you were born in a different culture or lived in a different part of the world.
- 1. School in the United States is structured quite differently than in other parts of the world. Ask the teens to research how girls are educated in another country. How many years would she go to school? Would her family have to pay? At what stage would she need to elect a major or area of study? Here are some sites that can help:
- How are teen magazines or teen television (if such a thing exists) in other countries similar or different to American teen magazines or television? If American media influences your expectations of high school, how would the media influence you if you lived somewhere else? Ask the teens to find a teen magazine online. Here are some options:
- Teen Station - online teen magazine from India
- Mimi Magazine - online and print magazine for women in South Africa
- Frankie Magazine - online and print magazine for twentysomething women in Australia
- YEN Magazine - online and print music, fashion, and pop culture magazine for young women in Australia
- Latinitas - alternative online magazine for teen women published in Austin, Texas
- For a take-home project, ask teens to watch part of one of the television shows or movies on the attached lists with a group of friends and then lead a discussion after the show about how teen life depicted onscreen is similar to or different from their lives.
Have you used Guidance for Grown-ups with your class or teen group? Tell us which ones you used and what kind of success you had with it. Did you put your own spin on it? Let us know.
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