A Letter to Adults Guiding Youth

Dear Parents, Guidance Counselors, Teachers, and interested community members:

Please stop asking youth for a specific job title to describe what they want to do when they grow up.

Please stop living your unfulfilled dreams through the youth in your life. 

Please stop painting today’s youth with an old paintbrush that should have been thrown away decades ago.

Please stop equating success with the number of zeros on a paycheque.

Start asking youth questions such as:

• “How do you want to make a difference in this world?”
• “What type of problem would you like to solve?” (I don’t mean headline making problems; just every day issues and processes that could be improved)
• “What are you good at?” But don’t stop there! Recognize that, just because your children or students are good at Biology doesn’t mean they should become a medical doctor or a biologist; just because they are good at English doesn’t mean they should become a journalist or a teacher; just because they are an honour roll student in high school doesn’t mean they have to earn a degree.

As a career development professional, who worked many years in post-secondary education, I see students who ‘default’ to university because society all too often equates success with a university degree. By excluding the multitude of skill development and job preparation options offered at technical and trade colleges, many youth are not provided with opportunities that are aligned with their strengths and interests.

As a collective village we have the responsibility to encourage students to reflect on their own skills, abilities and passions and to think about what they can do with them.  Adults should be listening to what youth are saying and supporting them so they feel secure in exploring all possibilities and discovering more about themselves.

Please stop perpetuating the myth that the ‘right’ job can fulfill every need, desire and interest in a person’s life. There is so much to explore and enjoy outside of formal paid work.  

A great example from my childhood comes to mind. A middle school English teacher working in our town was married to one of the local ‘garbage men’.  An adult family member addressed this and said, “What do they have in common? What on earth do they talk about over dinner?” Even as a child, I remember thinking that, perhaps he is an avid reader and they discuss books.  I still believe that this couple very likely had mutual interests outside of their paid jobs. I would love to go back and ask that teacher about her marriage – I bet her answers would be much different than the assumptions made within my family. Please stop making judgments about others.

Invest some time with our youth and don’t put a dollar figure on it. They are an extremely creative bunch who are more tuned into the world than earlier generations and really want to make a difference. As parents and educators, a critical role is to develop and maintain an environment where youth are exposed to the full spectrum of post-secondary opportunities. Most important of all is that we place an equal value on all options.

First published on LinkedIn Profile May 12, 2016.

Image courtesy of AI Generator WordPress.