Although most secondary schools don’t prioritize this, one of the most important functions of schools beyond promoting learning is to facilitate adolescent development. In taking a closer look at the nature of our education system in the United States, research and data on this topic has revealed what truly has been working and what hasn’t proven affective for the general health and wellbeing of youngsters today. Here are a few of my pointers on what kind of changes need to take place and what kind of experiences I believe schools should provide to aid in aspects of adolescent development including in the areas of identity, autonomy, intimacy, sexuality, and achievement.
In terms of identity development, the type of experiences schools provide can have a major effect on the development of adolescents, for the better or for the worst. First of all, it has been shown that teachers who impose too much control in the classroom with focus primarily on dealing with students’ discipline problems or who foster a class that is too task-oriented, make students nervous, unmotivated, and unhappy. Instead, students perform better under conditions where the teacher’s primary focus is on teaching lessons, providing clear instruction about the kind of work expected of them, and giving feedback and praise for good performance. Likewise, the zero-tolerance policy in schools and arresting students for misconduct has not been proven an effective solution, especially for impulsive students or students with mental health problems who are more likely to be involved in school violence and/or shootings. A more plausible solution would be to require education on adolescents from Law Enforcement officials. It has also been shown that students who overextend themselves in getting a job outside of school are at risk of jeopardizing their school performance, which may be a result of financial demands placed on them by their parents, especially for students from minority and low-income households. An example of how this can have a profound effect on an adolescent’s identity development is that teacher scrutiny, combined with poor parenting where the family’s problems are projected onto the child, and a criminal record for misbehavior which most likely is an outcome of these stressful circumstances in the adolescent’s life may lead to a core self-concept of shame and a self-image of being a “bad” person and therefore “deserving” punishment.
As it relates to autonomy, there are several changes schools can implement to facilitate adolescent development more effectively. Lack of clarity and organization in the classroom has been linked to detrimental effects on adolescents. Structure and firmness, similar to the authoritative parenting style, provided by schools result in lower rates of suspension. To extend on this concept further, rates of bullying are also higher in schools where the climate is disorderly and where students are not treated with respect. For this reason, a good solution would be to focus on educating parents and teachers on proper and more effective ways of communicating with and treating adolescents so that these youngsters will be able to form healthy boundaries between themselves and others as well as in their future relationships. Moreover, a complete lack of guidance or an overcontrolling attitude on the other extreme, may impede adolescents’ development such as through the formation of unhealthy attachment styles. Instead, it is essential for schools to empower students so that they feel a sense of responsibility for their own well-being as well as for one another so that they will be willing to take action in behalf of themselves or a peer who may be involved in some kind of dangerous activity. Additionally, it has been shown that students whose parents are involved in school activities (such as parent-teacher conferences) do better in school than their peers, but what about students whose parents are alcoholics or unable to provide parental support for one reason or another? In that case, creating programs at schools where students can talk about their home life, atmosphere, and relationships with their parents may help them feel more socially supported. This kind of counseling can help adolescents in cases where child abuse may be an ongoing family issue that may be affecting their studies, or some other risk factors outside of school that could potentially impede their education in the near future.
As far as intimacy is concerned, students with teachers whom they believe care about them, are supportive of them, and have developed stronger personal bonds with them tend to have fewer problematic behavior, higher test scores, and more supportive friendships. In addition, students are more engaged and eager to learn when schools facilitate students’ feelings of belonging to their school and that create a cohesive sense of community. In order to ensure the development of a more positive social environment at schools, a suggestion for schools in how to handle students who may display antisocial behavior or who feel alienated at school is to provide education about resources students can reach out to and utilize in order to receive social support in times of crisis. For example, providing them with contact information to a local therapist free of charge to get help with social skills or any other issues they may be facing.
In regard to achievement, it has been shown that students demonstrate higher achievement when the atmosphere of the class is one that promotes cooperation instead of competition between classmates. Therefore, including more interactive and teamwork-oriented group projects in the school curriculum, where students have the opportunity to work together, would most likely lead to more beneficial learning outcomes. Assigned work that is “authentic” and challenging, yet fun and enjoyable has also been shown to yield positive results and higher achievement scores. On the flip side, a boring, long, and tedious school atmosphere is characterized by disengagement with class material, often leading to cheating and high levels of stress and depression. Furthermore, assignments that are relevant to the real world seems to improve student engagement and achievement, so interventions designed to help students make connections between their lives and what they are learning in ‘science class’, for example, would be another viable solution to implement.
Last but not least, connections between adolescents’ sexuality and school functionality can have major implications on their development. One key element to consider is that violence is more common in overcrowded schools located in poor urban neighborhoods. These schools are prone to high degree of school violence including being threatened at school, experiencing verbal harassment, or being victimized through other types of violence. When we bring gender into the equation, boys are most likely to be involved in school violence and/or shootings. These students from lower-income families are more likely to be disengaged in school or drop out of school altogether, which leads to them to fare poorly economically and suffer a wide range of other problems like delinquency, unemployment, sex at earlier ages, substance use, and unintended pregnancy. Since disengagement is linked to feelings of alienation and misbehavior problems, one good solution for schools to implement would be programs designed for adolescents that peak their interest and which are more age-appropriate such as better sex-education classes and information about substance use rather than the usual condonement of it without scientific reasoning to back up claims. In other words, instead of just the usual “drugs are bad and illegal so you shouldn’t do it”, adolescents deserve better explanations for the kinds of consequences that risky behaviors can lead to. On a positive note, there has been a dramatic increase in college enrollment after high school among women over the decades. To put it in perspective, in 1970, about 70% of undergraduates were male, but by the end of this decade alone, about 60% of college students were female. One of the best solutions that governments can provide on this issue is providing better support and more financial resources allocated to schools consisting of students from mostly low-income neighborhoods.
Citation: Steinberg, L. (2020). Adolescence, 12th edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, pp. 158-186.
