Teens and Adults Working Together
TIPS FOR TEENS WORKING WITH ADULTS
- Speak up. Adults want to know your opinion.
- Speak out. Other teens are counting on you to speak for them.
- Follow through on assignments you accept. Make sure you understand what is expected of you.
- Plan activities that include as many students as possible, not just your own circle of friends.
- Represent students and your PTSA at school board meetings.
- Be positive. Look at what can be done to make things better.
- Never underestimate the power of one voice. Speak up!
TIPS FOR ADULTS WORKING WITH TEENS
- Share leadership positions and assignments with students. Be sure the students’ responsibilities are meaningful.
- Practice effective communication skills, including non-verbal communication and active listening, so teens feel heard.
- Acknowledge and address all concerns.
- Encourage and allow student input in discussions of issues.
- Consider student viewpoints. Their ideas are valuable.
- Focus on doing “with” rather than “for”.
- Elect student members to be part of the nominating committee for your PTSA.
- Write letters of recommendation for college admission and employers that include a student’s PTSA involvement.
- Implement a “student support system” in which veteran PTSA students and adult members provide new members with motivation, leadership, and mentoring to help with problems or questions.
- Inform parents that their students are involved as leaders in the PTSA organization.
- Remember the value of brainstorming (all ideas considered) as a problem solving method.
- Students must be in board meetings to thoroughly understand what is happening and how to do this job. Hold meetings when students can attend.
- Students can often do as good of a job as adults if given the training and opportunity.
- Before responding to a challenging situation, quietly count to ten.
Problem Solving
Choose one of many important issues and problems to address. If PTSA can make even one thing better, it has made a positive difference.
Gather the interested group together—do research. Find out all you can about the real problem. What causes it? Who is affected by it? What laws and policies affect the problem? Talk to people who are trying to correct the problem or people who are paid to work with the problem, etc.
MOST PROBLEMS HAVE MORE THAN ONE SOLUTION
Remember the value of brainstorming as a successful problem solving method.
- Brainstorm to start looking for answers.
- Have students come up with as many ideas as they can think of to solve the problem—old, new, practical, crazy, etc.
- Write down all the ideas as they are said or give out cards for shy students to write down their ideas.
- Don’t stop to talk about or evaluate any one idea. Show respect for all ideas.
- After all ideas have been gathered, talk about them. Some will be discarded because of safety, money, or other problems.
- Each could choose the three ideas they like best. Then tally to find the three that are the most popular. Talk about these three.
- Come to a consensus about refining the ideas to make them better. Students will learn to compromise and work together until there is a workable idea to solve the problem.
- Be patient. Brainstorming takes time, but brings great results.
- Another brainstorming method that we reviewed at the Utah PTA Convention in 2023 is brainwriting. This is especially helpful when students have a hard time verbalizing their thoughts and feelings.
Discuss your ideas(s) for solutions with the people your PTSA is trying to help. Unless the students have authorization to proceed to implement their ideas(s), it is critical that the people know the idea(s) is only a suggestion.