Enkindle Academy offers a weekly Teen Empowerment Class to students in 6th Grade and above. We began offering this class over a year ago out of the pressing need to give young people a safe and supportive place to become themselves. We lack such spaces in the West today. Most, if not all, traditional and indigenous cultures have rites of passage like confirmation, bar and bat mitzvah, vision quests, etc. In our zealous drive towards emancipation from the past, we westerners have largely cast such things aside. Of course, these rituals still exist in subcultures of the West, but increasing numbers of youth are not associated with such communities. What, therefore, are we to do in times like these?
I plan to write a post on Western Culture as a whole in the near future. As a preface, I will cite the influence of the Michaelic impulse, which is a universalizing sentiment, on the West. Michael is the Archangel who calls us out of strictly tribal loyalties and into a global loyalty. In other words, it is to love thy neighbor, regardless of race, creed, caste, etc. This impulse necessarily has a rub with tradition since tradition lives in families and tribes quite strongly.
New Forms
Consequently, I feel part of the West’s task is to bring in new forms. America, as perhaps the epitome of this impulse, is by nature a creative, free culture. That freedom to create hasn’t always been used for good – we have to acknowledge that. It, nevertheless, feels like the one common element that draws the diverse peoples of America together. A nation composed largely of immigrants, our forebears came here to live as they so chose. In many respects, that has meant freedom from the Old World traditions and morays that bound them.
My own father came here from abroad in the 70s drawn by the inventiveness of America. For better or for worse – and I do think the case can be made for both – this is the condition we have before us. What can we do, therefore, but innovate? That is the basis of this Teen Empowerment Class.
Addressing the Meaning Crisis
I must further emphasize the troubling fact that we are facing a meaning crisis, today. To some extent, this exists in all populations globally, but it hits Western youth perhaps the hardest. One would have to willfully blind oneself not to see this; it baffles me how arrogant and dissociated some people are who think that all which Western culture hath wrought to date is the epitome of human progress. By the way, I say that as a full believer in what I see as Western values. I just think we haven’t yet done a satisfactory job realizing them.
As a teacher who has spent half my life working with children and youth, I can tell you the meaning crisis is absolutely a pandemic. With the advent of the smartphone, the increasing materialism of modern life, the relativizing of morality, and the near utter absence of tradition, teen mental health has taken a nosedive. I began feeling this lack of spiritual ground to stand on in my own youth, and I see today’s youth struggling all the more. I could not therefore stand aside and allow this lack of guidance to continue without doing something to help. Thus, Teen Empowerment has been born.
So, What do We do in Teen Empowerment Class?
We start with singing, which is the best way to bring any group into harmony, literally. It’s also the best way to preempt conflict before it arises. We used to sing at the beginning of faculty meetings at Asheville Waldorf School. It works wonders for the social life of a community. I am thoroughly convinced if the whole world could somehow sing together a little each day, war would exist only in history books. Singing together is social magic.
It also prepares the mind/soul for the second stage of the meetings: meditation. The wisdom of the East teaches, “As you think, so do you become.” This is one of the central teachings I strive to impart upon the students, but we have to experience it and not just say it. Our weekly visioning meditation starts with practicing awareness of our will (body experience), feeling (heart experience), and thinking (what’s on our minds). Next, we craft an image of what we wish to experience – a goal, if you will. We imagine it, place ourselves in the image, and conjure up the feelings of what it would be like to achieve it.
After this inner exercise, we move to our goals journal. First, we review our entry from the previous week and grade ourselves on how we did on our action steps. Then, we write a new entry which includes our goal (revised, if need be), the reason why it matters to us, and 3-5 action steps to take that week. Students then share with the group. This practice keeps students focused on what they want, moving in a positive direction, and it also provides a way to hold themselves accountable.
The Power of the Group
Starting in 6th Grade, students need each other more. Hitherto, they have looked more reverently to the adults educating them. In many respects, most of them still do, but they start needing the horizontal element more. That’s part of why we share our goals with each other. We also do a checkin which includes a rose (something joyful), thorn (something challenging), and bud (something to look forward to) from the week. This deepens their connection with each other and cultivates a balanced view of life. Life has roses and thorns – it’s just part of the path. If you want the rose, you have to respect the thorn, so to speak. However, no matter how challenging life can be, there are always buds. Life inevitably finds a way to overcome every obstacle, grow over every wall, and adapt to every circumstance.
The vulnerability with which these students share with each other has humbled me. I can’t believe some of the things they trust each other enough to reveal. Such open vulnerability humanizes them all and builds bonds that can be challenging to find in the Wild West heart-space of mainstream youth culture.
After our group sharing, we turn to our book study. Each week, I ask students to read a chapter, send me a written reflection, and then we talk about it in class. The books we’ve chosen to read are diverse. They have thus far included: Dying to Be Me, an account of Anita Moorjani’s near death experience, The Hobbit, and Lord of the Flies, among others. The students always love to dialogue and debate the themes with each other.
The Role of the Teacher in Teen Empowerment
Although the social element is critical in the path of teen empowerment, they still need a guide. Teachers who understand the developmental needs of this age know it’s time to take a step back because adolescents are beginning the arduous journey of crafting a self. That’s no easy task. Do you remember what that was like? Teens aren’t sassy because they feel good inside – let’s be clear on that. However, they must rebel because they are forming their own thoughts about things. For a time, they will know everything and you will know nothing. It’s just part of maturing into an individual.
How, then, are adults to guide such human beings who necessarily question their authority at every turn? In a word: authenticity. Until around the age of 12, children for the most part accept adult guidance faithfully. Of course, there are variations, and some of you will laugh scornfully at such a statement due to your experiences with your own children. Yet, even the most rebellious young ones – if you really stick to them and follow them – still need the outer authority. They may just have impediments to receiving it, and that’s another matter we can discuss elsewhere.
The Type of Empowerment Teens Need
Teens are a different story. Something births itself in them that needs a new kind of nurturing. They know by now that you are flawed. Don’t think you can hide that from a 13 year old. However, you’ve been through a lot to arrive at adulthood, and you have learned much. Teens don’t want a benevolent dictator; they want a trusted expert, and you are that expert. An expert doesn’t tell teens what to do. Instead, such a person shares what they have learned from encountering their own roses and thorns. The expert guide waits for questions and then delivers one’s hard-earned wisdom, leaving the youth free to take it or leave it.
How to Connect
Our Teen Empowerment Class meets weekly. We are always accepting new students. If you want your youth in a tightly knit, warm, and welcoming group of peers with a loving guide who keeps them focused on the good, come check us out. Visit us at the following link to signup or get more info: https://enkindleacademy.com/live-teen-empowerment-class.
Enkindle Academy also offers prerecorded and live lessons for students in grades 5-9. We teach all academic subjects plus fine arts, creative writing and language arts.
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