By teen services director Kristen Rodriguez
Most teens and tweens have opinions. They’re striving for independence, they want to become decision makers, and their newfound freedom is bursting at the seems. How do we harness all of that energy and push it in the right direction? There’s a lot of things I have learned from my time working with tweens and teens to help enable and elevate these kids to be leaders, but here are a few that I feel are most relevant.
One of the main things I have done is present them with opportunity; Opportunity to plan and run programs, set dates on community service projects and plan fundraising events. I let them feel confident and empowered to share any ideas that would benefit the teen center and their community. Once they have planned and fully followed through with a project, that inspires them to do more and lead more! They know they are making an impact and that is so awarding.
I also enable the tweens and teens to express themselves appropriately but freely. To me, a leader can have difficult or uncomfortable conversations that end with some sort of solution. They need to express themselves and share their own thoughts even though they may be different and judged by their peers. “Say what you need to say and mean it” is something I tell my current or upcoming leaders. Sometimes to lead, you need to feel comfortable bringing something different to the table. Encourage all of it, which results in encouraging them.
Leading by example in this setting is potent to young kids today. Seeing their peers or friends being a part of clubs, helping staff, being involved in helping our community, seeing them be leaders, etc. really impacts the kids. It encourages them to also want to partake in the opportunities some of our best tween and teen leaders are presented with. Being rewarded to do rewarding things is amazing. And seeing our awesome youth leaders set that standard for other youth is outstanding.
I also aim to provide a leader-like mentorship. At first, I think I came off intense to some of the tweens and teens. But after they got to know me and my intentions, they just know I am a leader and mean business, and I encourage them to do the same. Aim to support their leadership development, which will be beneficial for years to come. Having a leadership position and building those skills at a young age will result in nothing but successes as they get older.
Seeing teens and tweens be leaders today can be rare. The impacts of their peers are overwhelming, but encouraging our youth to go against the grain is something that should be encourages, even if it’s difficult. Encourage all leadership qualities from these kids and put those qualities to work!