Empowering Teachers

1
Empowering Teachers Parents by Developing
Relationship Skills

• Character education, character-based sexuality
  education, conflict resolution, peer mediation,
  relationship and communication skills, marriage
  preparation
• Mentoring at each and every level

2
Identity and Adolescents

• Transitional age periods
• 12 to 13 years of age
• 15 to 16 years of age
• Transformation from compliant, predictable
  patterns of behavior
• To display angry, risky and self-destructive
  patterns of behavior

3
Uniqueness and Individuality

• Intense drive for autonomy
• Rejection of teachers parents
• You cant control my life!
• Who will?
• Positive or negative peer pressure
• Sense of personal identity and selfhood
• Can result in extreme, disruptive, and out-of
  control behaviors

4
Anti-Identity

• Goals of adolescent
• Search for meaning and purpose
• Not to become either of their parents
• Anticipating what a teacher or parent wants
• The teenager simply says or does the opposite

5
Anti-Identity Behavior

• Casual and uncommitted sexual behavior
• Frequent and varied substance abuse
• Disregard for family as well as school norms and
  rules
• Claiming of separate identity
• Tremendous cost to all involved
• Secret need for love and acceptance from teachers
  and parents

6
Raising Teenagers to Have a Sense of Self

• Young people who know what they think, feel and
  want have happier, safer and more productive
  lives
• Importance of character building from birth
• Support of the extended family
• Problem of not attaining individual identity in a
  positive manner
• Risk of rebellion, production of casualties

7
Offering Choices

• Process of decision making determines our
  identity
• Identity-building can start from a young age
• Relationship skills building
• Create a school atmosphere of love, caring and
  support that maintains clear boundaries

8
Different Teaching and Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian
• Permissive
• Authoritative
• --Researcher Diane Baumrind