ISACS Parent Webinar February Recap

The 4th presentation of the ISACS Parent Webinar series was about the Science of Motivating Young People. The presenter, David Yaeger, is a Professor of Psychology at UT Austin, a Cofounder of Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute, and is known for his research on powerful interventions that influence adolescent behavior. David is also the author of a book called, “10-25: The Science of Motivating Young People” which is referenced often in this presentation.

Mr. Yaeger began the session by highlighting common fears that parents have. “Is my child prepared for an uncertain future?”, “Will some serious catastrophe derail my child’s future?”, and 

“Will my child ever love and be loved (accepted)?” As a parent, you likely agree with these sentiments, and also agree that we find ourselves doing crazy things to and for our kids. All of these crazy things are (of course) to ensure that these fears don’t become a reality. However, these “crazy things” that we do are often counter-productive and stand in the way of our child’s motivation and ability to learn and grow. With that being said, one of the biggest things that stands in the way of motivating young people is our belief in how they work and operate. David asked the audience to fill in the blanks to the following question: “Given that young people are ___________, the best way to motivate them is to ____________”

David Yaeger explained that when presenting this question to various groups of people, there are common themes. For example, when asking CEO’s, their responses to the first blank include words like, “Lazy, selfish, short sighted, or impulsive”. Followed by responses like, “use coercion, control, bribes, etc.” When asking a variety of adult respondents, the answers are, “overwhelmed, anxious, a “wet paper towel”, etc.” And therefore in order to motivate them, “we should protect them from stress, remove fear, and reduce expectations”. But when asking a group of educators the answers take a more positive approach. Young people are, “our nation's best hope for a good future”, so the best way to motivate them is to, “unlock their desire to change the world.”

David’s point in using this example is to show us that what you put in the first blank, will powerfully influence the second blank. In other words, what you believe about young people will influence the ways in which you choose to motivate and act around them…  If you think young people are a problem to be managed, then you will treat them as such. If you think they are our best hope for the future, you treat them as such! 

Mr. Yaeger then dove into this concept of the Neurobiological incompetence model. Which is a scientific way of explaining the idea that because young people lack a prefrontal cortex, they are incapable, and don't have potential. He explains that people take pity on those who choose to be around teenagers… this view about adolescents strongly influences our COMMUNICATION styles, which (you guessed it) influences how young people respond to adults and the world around them. This led into the explanation of, “Grownsplaining”. Grownsplaining according to David Yaeger is the idea that, “because I have a smart adult brain, I have figured out what your insufficient teenage brain needs”. For example, as adults we often ask something indirectly and assume that our child interpreted the information in the same way that we do…but they don’t. David emphasized that if we don’t communicate our needs plainly, our kids don’t process the information how we expect.

The most fascinating part of the presentation and perfect examples of “grownsplaining” were the examples he provided about youth anti-smoking campaigns. David referenced a campaign in the 90’s that had two different slogans… both of which had the opposite effect that the message was intended to have. The first slogan was, “Think, don’t smoke”. To adults it’s simple and obvious, right? However, it wasn’t effective with teens for two reasons. 

1. Teens read this as an insult. The word “think” implies that adults think they are stupid and don’t know how to think…
2. The “Don’t smoke” is inferring that adults have the authority to tell them what to do and is therefore an attack on their independence and autonomy. 

The second slogan was, “Tobacco is whacko…if you’re a teen.” Similar to the first slogan, there are a couple of reasons that made it ineffective. 

1. Teens are never going to repeat the words “whacko” around their peers. Today’s teens would say this is so “cringe”.
2. This slogan implies that it’s not okay to smoke under 18, but it is okay to smoke if you’re an adult. Teens want nothing more than to be adults…

In recent years, the Truth campaign ads reduced underage tobacco use from 30% to 5% in just a couple of years. David explains that this was the most successful campaign ever. And not once did their ads use the phrases, “don’t smoke” or “smoking causes cancer”. These ads depict teenagers as the ones with intelligence, moral clarity, ethical commitment, and the social network to stand up against big tobacco. 

The takeaway here is that our kids will listen when we show them that we trust their ability to be mature, and that they have the intelligence to make good choices. Rather than keeping a fixed mindset that teenagers are selfish and short sighted we have to understand that they are motivated by a desire to matter.

Here is how we motivate:

• Young people are more attuned to status and respect - more so than more established leaders
• When we threaten status and respect, young people lose motivation 

• When we honor status and respect, we can capture motivation 
• The way we honor status/respect is through a MENTOR MINDSET 

A MENTOR MINDSET is establishing tough and demanding standards, while also providing lots of support. Think back to a time when an adult expected a lot, but also walked the path with you. It feels good to accomplish things but it feels even better to accomplish things and have someone cheering you on! 

Similar to the parenting styles model, there are four quadrants. While the mentor mindset is our gold standard, you also have three others. 

• Enforcer mindset - high standards, but low support (yell, tell, blame, and shame
• Apathetic mindset - low standards, low support 
• Protector mindset - high support but low standards (young people are stressed, overwhelmed, pressured so they are incapable of meeting high standards so we protect them from bad feelings. It makes kids anxious and scared of the real world) 

David ended the session with an example from the research. One study had 7th graders write essays about their heroes. After completing the essay, the teacher covered them in comments - some with suggestions and others with criticism. Students that received suggestions/criticism without an explanation as to “why” were less open to feedback. However, students that had a teacher who clarified why they provide this feedback such as, “I give you these comments because I have high standards and I know you can meet them.” were far more likely to accept feedback. When we leave our young people to wonder whether or not the adult (who has power over them) thinks they (as a young person) are competent, we have lost their motivation.

Adults who use the Mentor Mindset do the following:

• Overall approach  - “Let’s troubleshoot collaboratively” 
• Implied cause of student confusion is processes: confusion is the result of incorrect steps for solving a problem
• View of mistakes is that they are useful: mistakes are opportunities to learn 
• See the low-achievers’ questions as informative: questions are opportunities to clarify or deepen understanding 

Adults that use the Enforcer Mindset do the following: 

• Overall approach - “go try harder alone” 
• Implied cause of student confusion is Character: coinfusion is a result of lack of attention or effort 
• View of mistakes is that they are bad: mistakes are sign of low ability 
• See the low achievers’ questions as distracting: Qs slow down the class and pull people off track. This encourages young people to never be vulnerable in front of adults. 

To our parents that have Intermediate and Middle School students, this presentation was truly valuable. My summary of the information provided just skims the surface. I highly encourage you to read David Yaeger’s book or find access to this presentation. Adolescence is such an important time in our child’s life, so the more tools that you have to maintain open communication and a relationship that is built on trust - the better! Stay tuned for the next ISACS Parent Series recap! 

 

Mrs. P