Dean of Studies

What’s the matter with kids today?

The good news is nothing, and the better news is no more than what previous generations have also faced and experienced. Authors and Education scholars Nancy Hill and Alexis Redding from the Harvard Graduate School of Education debunk the myth that young people today are lazier and more immature than prior generations. In their book “The End of Adolescence: The Lost Art of Delaying Adulthood,” Hill, Redding along with Professor of Education, Charles Bigelow, write about how young adults today have many of the same insecurities and fears about their futures that their parents and grandparents did at their age. Why then might this be an important piece of information for us?

The misperceptions of today’s youth often include beliefs that they are lazy and self-indulgent, only want to work in jobs that are prestigious and pay well, want to live with their parents for longer and are resistant to growing up. Based on a series of interviews, the research by Hill and Redding showed that today’s older generations (60 - 70-year-olds) had the same insecurities and concerns about finding their future when they were in their early adulthood years, and they too felt the resistance to taking on responsibility and growing up. The foundation of this stems from forgetting about what it’s like to be in what is a profound, and sometimes chaotic period of transition, and to be expected to make decisions at a moment when we’re still uncertain about how things are going to work out. For older adults, when they look back across their lives, they can now connect the dots in a way that makes sense because we know the end of the story. However, we can forget that young people are in the midst of a story where they don’t yet know the ending.

What Hill and Redding also note is that youth are reaching the markers of adulthood later: They’re getting married later, on average, than they were in the 1970s. The age of moving out of the house, the age of first marriage, the age of first child and those sorts of things are later than they were on average in the 1970s. But this isn’t unique to today’s youth. What has changed is that it’s harder for youth today to find the kind of job that pays a living wage and has a future — one that makes them feel secure enough to move out of their parents’ house and reach all the markers of adulthood. Often, we are asking young people to start considering their future pathways whilst still in secondary school, and yet many are still trying to figure this out. Perhaps we should shift the focus towards gaining knowledge, skills and understanding in a range of courses that open up pathways and choices for young people?

A further point made is for the current generation of young people to be made aware that there is more agency in defining what adulthood looks like today.

“The people in our book are now in their 60s and 70s and their lives turned out OK; not without bumps and struggles, but they turned out OK. If we could tell every youth that it’s going to turn out OK, how much freedom would that give them to be their authentic selves?”

The skills and abilities that we can develop and craft in young people whilst at school include the ability to expand their horizons, to take a step back and think about the opportunities to go on a journey of living a purposeful life, and having choices in this journey. In the past, the message was that there is a clear pathway to guaranteed success and that is by attending university. This remains one of the places right now where young people can somewhat press pause, however the question becomes, “How do we help those who don’t go to university or can’t go?” 

To a certain degree, all young people should have the benefit of time as they make the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Delaying adulthood is something that people have been doing for decades, and not everyone gets to experience more time by delaying adulthood. The question then becomes about how Parents and Teachers can provide the right sort of advice to help our young people in this transition to adulthood?

The first way, according to Hill and Redding, is the need to remove the boundaries around these perceptions of generational difference, and look for ways to build connection. Secondly, we can look to then build a bridge of understanding about the shared developmental experience. Thirdly, offer meaningful guidance across the generations – both can learn from each other. By having greater empathy for young people today, by knowing and sharing our experience of these moments as well, we can provide advice that resonates with what they’re going through. As we do this, we build a community of respect and friendship that places learning as a foundation of this shared experience – much like what schools exist to do.

Reference: Liz Mineo (November 8th, 2021). https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/11/why-kids-are-delaying-adulthood/ 

College Examination Schedules – Year 9 / 10 (Semester Two)

The Year Nine and Ten Examinations have been scheduled to commence from Thursday November 18th, 2021 and will conducted in the Business Centre and Cappenburg. Students should check the schedule and ensure that they arrive at least twenty minutes prior to the commencement of Reading Time.

FULL DETAILS: Exam Times etc

Special Thanks

The College would  like to thank the Parent volunteers that have assisted with supervision of Year 11 and 12 College examinations. We warmly extend our appreciation to Angelo Pisano, Anne Welch, Natasha Poolman, Louize Rose and Glenda Lockwood.

Independent Learning Week

The Independent Learning Week pilot program for students in Years 7 – 9 will take place from Monday December 6th through to Wednesday December 8th, and is adapted from similar models offered in schools and universities around the world. The Independent Learning Week provides opportunities to select short courses or activities based around areas of interest or staff expertise. As part of the pilot, students select from a mix of required (compulsory) courses and elective (non-compulsory) courses.

All elective courses will have maximum enrolment capacities, and registration will be on a, ‘first come, first served’ basis. Staff that have elected to offer courses, may offer a repeat of courses if there is sufficient student interest or scope within the timetable. The current list of courses is available via the following link: https://sway.office.com/Y8GlQZ9D5MzpLtjQ?ref=Link and will be updated over the next week.

Mr R  Dowling

(Dean of Studies)