How Teens Learn To Take Initiative

Now that summer is here, have you heard, "I’m bored," or "There is nothing to do." If so, you probably have a young teenager at home - like we do. What there is to do - like work for example - is artfully avoided as unworthy of their delicate hands. Their idea of getting involved in something is a pilgrimage to the local video store.

How do young people learn to occupy themselves? Or better yet, to motivate themselves toward a challenging and worthwhile goal? How can they generate their own sparks of excitement and become absorbed in something demanding?

From his research, psychologist Reed Larson of the University of Illinois, Urbana, identifies three main ingredients that are crucial for youth to learn initiative:

• Intrinsic motivation - wanting to be doing an activity and being invested in it. This is linked to the ability to make decisions for oneself.
• Concentration - concerted engagement in the environment or devotion of thought or effort in meeting a complex challenge.
• Sustained effort - maintaining one’s attention on a deliberate course of action over time.

Do children learn initiative at school? School demands concentration and provides challenges, but usually most of the decision-making is in the hands of the teachers and school authorities.

Do children learn initiative in their leisure activities? Teens are highly motivated to be with their friends and make their own choices. However, a large portion of this time is spent watching TV, talking and hanging out. Except for learning social skills such as negotiating relationships, time is not usually spent in challenging or complex activities.

Do children learn initiative from sports? Sometimes. It happens when coaches encourage youth to develop their own skills relative to personal improvement, encourage the development of talent through practice and technical instruction, and when young people persist in their training because they experience sports as fun.

However, the strict rules of the game and the crucial role of the coach in making decisions preempt individual initiative and motivation. Also when the emphasis in sports is on competition, winning, public recognition, and performance, the intrinsic motivation may be lost.

Do children learn initiative from hobbies, music and arts? These activities have potential for intrinsic motivation, concentration and sustained effort. However, the gains may not be great. There is a lack of structure and fewer opportunities for collaborative decision-making with other youth.

Do children learn from structured voluntary activities? Larson says the ideal setting for teens learn to take initiative is in activities that are voluntary and have some structure. He includes extra-curricular school activities and community activities organized by adults or structured activities that youth organize on their own. The best organizations were youth-based. Research showed they shared these characteristics:

• After initial adult involvement, the motivation, direction and goals came from the participants themselves. Decision-making, even the success or failure of an enterprise was left in the hands of the youth. They had true responsibility.
• Youth had to deal with real-world limitations and problems and subject themselves to outside evaluation.
• There was enough time so that all stages of a project, production or performance could unfold. This involved planning, practice, rehearsal, performance or achievement of the goal. They had to deal with setbacks, obstacles, and emerging challenges.

What are the benefits of youth activities? Researchers have found that participation in extracurricular activities in high school lead to more involvement in voluntary associations at age 30 and higher occupational attainment 24 years later. Other findings include:

• Participation in structured youth activities in 10th grade predicted positive changes in GPA between the 10th and 12th grades.
• Participation in extracurricular and community activities produced positive changes in self-concept, schoolwork and educational and occupational aspirations from 10th to 12th grades.
• Adventure programs in wilderness settings such as Outward Bound positively affected adolescent attributes such as independence, self-efficacy, assertiveness, and decision-making. These effects grew in size in the 25 months following the program.

Teens feel more alive, awake and open to experiences during youth-based activities. Their thinking becomes more global and integrated. Their language, instead of the passive and self-defensive orientation typical of bored youth, becomes goal-directed, full of cause and effect analysis.

Leaders and older members model a different way of thinking and speaking. Teens develop skills for implementing plans, for directing and regulating activities over time. They learn to take a variety of roles and adapt to the perspective of others. They learn to think strategically.

These teens are socialized into group norms and identity. Service activities provide youth with a way to identify with the community. They enlarge their association with other youth and adult leaders. They learn teamwork and coordination. They gain a vision of public service and community life.

These teens also learn the emotional skills to overcome setbacks, obstacles and to deal with disappointment. They transfer skills of creating order, meaning and direction when encountering challenges to other parts of their lives.

Larson rates opportunities for personal growth through youth activities right up with the influence of families, churches, schools, and peers. Hats off to the adults that staff these activities and provide the structure and guidance to make them successful. It is no wonder that parents make huge sacrifices to connect their children with extra-curricular and summer programs.