This week I read an article called “Seven Things our high school daughters want us to know, and what you can do to help” written by Madonna King (taken from her latest book L Platers-how to support your teen daughter on the road to adulthood) – an author who has built expertise on the issues confronting teenage girls. In this article she lists seven important points about what the issues are that are of most concern for teenage girls.

As I read this article, I could not help but nod my head at what I was reading as it clearly aligned with what we are seeing in many of your daughters at the College. World events, especially the pandemic, has changed the way we all now view the world and nowhere is this clearer than with teenagers today. What they saw their present and future to be has been changed and they have had no control over this. With this loss of control comes anxiety of how the world is now for them and what this means for those soon to be leaving school.

The areas she focuses on include:

1. That they are struggling – 700 out of the 1000 teenagers she spoke with said that mental health is their biggest challenge
2. Social media has reduced their lives to a comparison – where she states “they know it is fake, but they can’t help comparing themselves to the images they see on the screen”
3. School can be suffocating -she speaks about how ‘many girls have forgotten how to have fun’-the focus is on gaining the top mark or ultimate ATAR
4. They are the group most affected by Covid – they have suffered in their education as well as socially- they haven’t got to do things their older siblings did
5. They don’t feel ready to leave school – for the older girls as they have lost the art of being independent as this was limited during the many lockdowns
6. Friendship is difficult – even at 16, 17 or 18 – this changed without the face-to-face contact that the lockdowns brought and now many have given up as it is too hard
7. They want your help, but they don’t want to be just like you-they want to find purpose and a place where they ‘fit’ – this generation wants to see work as only one element of their life.

As parents, in partnership with the College, we need to look at what this research is saying and address it in ways that show we support these young women and acknowledge the challenges they are facing.

I will be using this article with the girls during their chapel time over the next two weeks to stimulate discussion and give them a chance to discuss these in terms of what they are feeling and experiencing. We have asked a lot of our children since the pandemic from the sudden onset of remote learning to being in lockdown through to losing all those extra activities they enjoy, and which bring them enjoyment and a routine that brings balance to their lives.

This is the link to Madonna King’s website which has a number of resources you may find useful:https://madonnaking.com.au/

I would like to finish with a reflection that I used at a meeting this week – given how busy all our lives are I think this offers us all something to think about in our daily interactions.

Blessings

Karen Wright - Acting Principal

A smile costs nothing  
But gives much. 
It enriches those who receive,
Without making poorer those who give. 
It takes but a moment,
But the memory of it
Sometimes lasts forever.
None is so rich or mighty that
He can get along without it,
And none is too poor but that
He can be made rich by it. 
A smile creates happiness in
The home, fosters good will in
Business, and is the countersign
Of friendship.  It brings rest to
The weary, cheer to the
Discouraged, sunshine to the sad,
And it is nature’s best
Antidote for trouble. 
Yet, it cannot be bought, begged,
Borrowed, or stolen, for it is
Something that is of no value
To anyone until it is given away. 
Some people are too tired to give
You a smile. Give them one of
Yours, as none needs a smile
So much as someone
Who has no more to give.

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