Posted: October 15, 2018
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to speak during our grade meetings with our students in grades nine through twelve. My message was positive, debunking some of the myths about today’s teenagers. I shared with them the sentiment that many members of the ‘older’ generations share about the youth who populate our secondary schools, that they’re nasty, lazy, can’t think for themselves, are self-centered, coddled, thumb-twitching screen gazers, unable to string together multisyllabic sentences. And then I went on the explain how the research and evidence does not support such notions. Instead, all indications are that the current generation of students are more kind, more considerate, more accepting, more ambition, and more self-aware than most generations who preceded them. Smoking, drinking, and teen pregnancy rates have been steadily trending downward since the 80’s. Today’s students carry more part-time work hours than their parents did at the same age. Twenty years ago, if you were ‘different’ than your peers, you were bullied and teased relentlessly. Kids really had to be committed to their ideas and beliefs in order to endure the ridicule. Today’s youth are not only more tolerant, they are much more accepting of diversity. They celebrate and champion diversity in their peers. And when they graduate, they will go on to complete post-secondary education and training at a rate greater than any generation of Canadians to date.
And yet, all is not perfect in the teenage world. Despite the many positive changes I have witnessed in our youth during my years in education, there are some troubling trends as well. Some very troubling trends. And that is why I told our assembled groups of kindhearted, thoughtful, accepting teens that I needed to be a bit of a pest to them. And by pest, I meant P.E.S.T.
I shared that I am very worried about the lack of Physical activity they engage in, that they make poor choices in what they Eat, that they are Sleep-deprived, and that the amount Time they spend staring at screens is making them miserable.
Obesity rates in Canada have doubled since 1978. As Canada was drifting from the bell-bottomed groove of the 70’s into the neon-adorned 80’s, the obesity rate was 14%. Today the obesity rate has ballooned to 28%. One of the reasons is lack of movement. Kids don’t play anyone. Almost all of their physical activity is organized and planned by adults. When, where, what, and for how long teens are active is determined by the adults in their lives, whether they be parents, coaches, teachers, or dance instructors. I encouraged our students to get outside and play, just play. In addition to getting some exercise, they might even gain some of the benefits I did when playing as a kids. I learned about teamwork, fair play, being picked last, cheating, how to repair a neighbor’s fence, and the cost of a broken window.
The other reason our obesity rate has doubled is because we eat so poorly. The food industry works hard to make lousy food tasty, cheap, and attractive. Eating healthy food has become difficult and expensive. Super-sized portions and fast-food outlets on every corner don’t help, either. I encouraged our students to make healthy choices. I shared with them a simple rule to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy food choices. If you know how something became food and could describe it to a five year old (an apple) then eat it. If you don’t have any idea how it became food (cheesy’s), think twice.
The next pesty topic I discussed was sleep. The teen years are an amazing developmental stage in our lives. Our brains and our bodies consume energy at an alarming rate. And while adults should be getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night, teenagers are recommended to get between eight and a half and ten hours of sleep each night. That adds up to sixty to seventy hours of sleep per week. When I asked our students how many of them got ten hours of sleep the night before, about ten percent raised their freshly recharged arms. When I then asked how many in the audience got less than seven hours of sleep, a full three-quarter of the students slowly pointed a listless limb skyward. The health risks associated with sleep deprivation are lengthy, ranging from irritability to reduced cognition, increased anxiety to weight gain. Simply put, our teens don’t get enough sleep.
My final pestiness focused on how our teens spend their Time. In addition to lacking exercise and sleep, I am worried about the amount of time our teens spend staring at screens. Recent studies have suggested that teens who spend less than two hours a day of screen time are happier than teens who spend more time on screens. Almost all of our students spend more than two hours a day focused on what is emanating from one screen or another. The trend to spend more and more time staring at screens has been steady and unrelenting, luring our teens into a passive existence, one where their moods and temperament are set and swayed by the content and messaging of their devices. It is neither healthy, nor normal. I encouraged our students to put away their phones for the pleasures and joys that come from interacting with the humans around them. It will make them less unhappy.
And, I encourage each of you to be a P.E.S.T with the teenageers in your life. Help them be more active, choose healthy eating options, get more sleep, and spend less time on their screens. How can you do that? First, be a role model for them and set a good example. Second, learn as much as you can about the issues that are having a negative impact on today’s youth. Finally, talk with your teen, face to face, device-free, for sustained periods of time, preferably while munching on an apple as you go on a long hike together.