Courageous Conversations
Start a group at your school where teens can meet regularly to have hard conversations about topics that are stressful, troubling or difficult for them. Create a safe environment for discussion and support, and help your friends and peers help each other feel better.
Teens today suffer from record levels of anxiety and depression. Some feel that it’s difficult to have conversations with their parents, teachers or other adults. Start an initiative at your school where teens can meet regularly to have courageous conversations about issues that are important to them. You can pick different topics from week to week or month to month, or you can allow the group to speak freely about issues that are of specific concern to them.
How do I get started? Do some research about which issues are causing stress among your peers, and explore the logistics of starting a group at your school:
start a survey monkey and include questions about likelihood of participation in your group, optimal timing for meetings and topics of concern and interest
reach out to school administrators and teacher advisors and identify a space and time that you can meet
advertise the group among friends and peers
How much time will this take? This project has the potential to take a low to medium amount of time. That said, if you want it to be successful you’re going to have to work hard to promote and execute the project. Running a peer group can be hard, and you’ll have to identify the topics and keep people on track in the conversation. You’ll also need to be brave enough to control the group if people get off point or aren’t taking things seriously.
How can I expand this narrative arc? Looking to expand this narrative arc? Host an event at your school featuring an expert speaker in a field that is relevant to what you’re discussing in your peer group. Is it managing stress and anxiety? The college admissions process? Peer pressure? Drugs and alcohol? Chances are, there’s someone that is willing to come speak to your school (or, if that’s not feasible, your group) about these issues. Or become an Investigative Journalist by running a poll and doing interviews of your peers about one or more issues that concern them.
HOT TIP: The value of this project to you if going to depend on where it fits in with your interests and strengths. More importantly, you’ll get the most out of it if you put a lot into it. A peer discussion group that consistently attracts a large number of teens and is faculty supported, attended and sanctioned is probably going to look more impressive on your resume. That said, if you’re looking more for a judgment-free space to talk about issues, you can reap huge emotional benefits just by pulling together the group.