Students are in the midst of figuring out who they are and how they can influence the world. Some feel helpless because it seems that they were born into a difficult situation or have experienced an unfair share of pain and heartache. Others feel almost superhuman and think they have the power to change anything they want. And for so many others, the truth of one’s power of self-determination is unclear and revealed slowly, over time and experiences.
Students must make decisions in life about how to treat themselves and others. There is a tension here in deciding whose needs should assume greater importance. Sometimes the selfish instinct takes over, other people are shut out and there is a laser-like focus on individual needs. Other times the selfless attitude leads the way. Making wise and balanced decisions about when to serve the self and other people is an important component to living a good life.
Character development is at least as important as the development of academic skills. A strong character fuels self-discipline and self-motivation, both of which breed success in life. But character development sometimes feels like impossible work, especially when a person’s difficult life circumstances get in the way. How a person turns out is often determined by forces out of his/her control.
Students are fed the consistent message that they can achieve anything in life if only they just work hard at it. They are in control of their future. But students are also aware of the fact that much of their future is out of their control and that no matter how hard they try, they will never achieve certain things. These two forces– the internal force of their own desires and the external force of the world acting upon them– conspire to shape their life experiences.
Kids are in the midst of making so many ethical choices about the types of people they should be hanging out with. There is peer pressure to spend time with friends who may make questionable life choices but whose approval is important for a child’s self-esteem. Friendship advice from parents, coaches and other authority figures often go unheard because they conflict with what kids believe inside. Decisions on which company to keep are never easy but they are integral to the healthy moral development of human beings.
Success, students are told, comes from doing well in school, building friendships and finding the right career. The only problem is they aren’t told exactly how to find this success and whether actually loving what they do should even be a consideration. As a result, it’s important for students to develop a self-awareness around what success means to them and how they plan to get it.
Every student knows what failure and success are. They pass and fail tests. They lose and win games. Students are just beginning to learn about what they are capable of, what they excel at and what they may be lacking that will always make them question whether they should persevere or quit.
Students have very strong opinions about when to talk and when to remain silent. Sometimes, students speak out of nervousness. Other times, students speak because they have something they have to say to the world. Then there are other students who are shy and never want to talk, or who remain silent because they are afraid to look foolish.
Mark Twain famously quipped that death and taxes are the only things certain in life. We can probably add failure to that short list. Of all themes, failure is one to which students can relate most. There’s failure at home, at school and in the workplace. It is a constant. Students are taught to develop a growth mindset and learn from failure.