BlogsCommunicationsStudent LifeCounselingUpper SchoolWellness
Healthy Decision Making in the 21st Century
Mar 23, 2012 1:03 PM
By Matt Peer - Faculty
Like many, I grew up listening to the older people I respected tell me stories that began with “when I was your age...” I would listen intently, all the time thinking to myself “wow, they have no idea what it means to be a teenager these days."
As the director of student life, it is my responsibility to help our students make healthy, safe and educated decisions, not just when they are on our campus or enrolled at Darlington School, but as they progress into different stages of their lives. To accomplish this massive feat, I must try to put myself in their mindset, which is a difficult task to say the least.
This May, I will celebrate the 15th anniversary of my high school graduation, and I can honestly say that in this time, everything associated with being a teenager has changed dramatically. I often wonder how our students perceive the life lessons and values you as parents and we as educators try to instill in them.
Cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google have had a tremendous impact on the development of our teenage students. They have instant access to every possible type of information, from how to do a homework problem, to learning about the birds and the bees, to watching videos of students their age partaking in risky behavior. Teenagers today have the ability to watch their peers say and do things that we would never have thought of when we were young, and this often causes them to take greater risks than we did at their age.
As part of Darlington’s commitment to helping our students make healthy, safe and educated decisions, we will have a special assembly on Monday March 26. This program focuses on decision making and the consequences of their choices. I encourage you to have conversations with your sons and daughters after Monday's presentation. We want to partner with you to help your student not only today and tomorrow, but as they make their journey to adulthood.
Please, as always, feel free to contact the student life team with thoughts or comments on what we can do to help your children learn valuable life lessons.
As the director of student life, it is my responsibility to help our students make healthy, safe and educated decisions, not just when they are on our campus or enrolled at Darlington School, but as they progress into different stages of their lives. To accomplish this massive feat, I must try to put myself in their mindset, which is a difficult task to say the least.
This May, I will celebrate the 15th anniversary of my high school graduation, and I can honestly say that in this time, everything associated with being a teenager has changed dramatically. I often wonder how our students perceive the life lessons and values you as parents and we as educators try to instill in them.
Cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google have had a tremendous impact on the development of our teenage students. They have instant access to every possible type of information, from how to do a homework problem, to learning about the birds and the bees, to watching videos of students their age partaking in risky behavior. Teenagers today have the ability to watch their peers say and do things that we would never have thought of when we were young, and this often causes them to take greater risks than we did at their age.
As part of Darlington’s commitment to helping our students make healthy, safe and educated decisions, we will have a special assembly on Monday March 26. This program focuses on decision making and the consequences of their choices. I encourage you to have conversations with your sons and daughters after Monday's presentation. We want to partner with you to help your student not only today and tomorrow, but as they make their journey to adulthood.
Please, as always, feel free to contact the student life team with thoughts or comments on what we can do to help your children learn valuable life lessons.
