Engaging Teens
Andrew Robinson at Teen Shift gives us the Rules of Engagement when working with teens. He notes,
“Who you are is more important than what you do. Who you are as a person will determine how successfully you engage teens. Teens connect with adults that work to be present and authentic.”
I find this to be very true. If you try to be hip, cool, young or their peer, they will see the artifice a mile away. There will be no trust and no basis for a long term relationship. I have seen the “cool staff” that can get the teens attention-and maybe even attract large numbers of teens-but cannot help those teens to another level because they aren’t authentic. The teens don’t go to them when it really matters. That’s when the teens find the goofy staff person who they trust to be honest. Of course, some people can pull off both. Anyone who’s seen me do the Cha Cha slide or Soulja Boy with the kids knows that I can’t, but at least it’s good for a laugh.
Andrew has a quiz and some suggestions on how to be authentic in the rest of the article. Check it out here. This topic is especially important because we need to help the teens understand that its okay to be themselves.
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