By Andrew McPeak   Today’s blog is an excerpt from the upcoming book, “Ready for Real Life.” Be on the lookout for the upcoming pre-order of “Ready for Real Life” coming soon.    For more than a decade now, we at Growing Leaders have been giving adults training and advice for how to best understand and engage their students. In this time, the gaps that exist between generations have only grown wider. Today, Generation Z presents a great challenge to teachers, parents, coaches, and leaders who feel like they just started to understand Millennials, the generation who came be ..read more

By Tim Elmore   Every year, both the media and social media reveal to us how our culture is evolving. From the shows people watch, to the awards programs people celebrate, to the broadcasts and podcasts people tune into, we have much to learn this year, just by observing the habits of American consumers. I have three observations below based on the data about these varied areas of life.    Three Observations and What We Can Learn   Organic vs. Over-produced Caring adult leaders (coaches, teachers, parents) often miss this value in today’s generation. Sporting events dominat ..read more

By Andrew McPeak   Today’s blog is an excerpt from the upcoming book, “Ready for Real Life.” Be on the lookout for the upcoming pre-order of “Ready for Real Life” coming soon.    A few years ago, I read a quote in a parenting magazine where a concerned author and parent voiced the fear that many parents have about the emergence of new technologies:   “Here is a device,” they wrote, “whose voice is everywhere. We may question the quality of its offering for our children, we may approve or deplore its entertainments and enchantments; but we are powerless to shut it out ..read more

By Tim Elmore   I recently met with the faculty of a high-performing public high school. In our discussion, teachers mentioned how much parents got involved in their kids’ routines. At first, I assumed this was a positive remark, but later I recognized the type of parental engagement they referred to was not helpful at all. Every school enjoys parents who support their activities. Sadly, parent involvement today is taking on a very different form and tone:  Distrust over what’s happening in class Telling faculty how to do their job Questioning the judgment of administrators  ..read more

By Tim Elmore   Like most mothers, my wife shared a common objection when our kids were teens. She’d make requests of them, repeatedly, but get no response. To be clear, our daughter and son were not hearing impaired, nor did they have ADHD. It seemed they had selective hearing skills:   They often did not hear the words clean up your room or put your dishes in the sink. They usually did hear the words we’re getting ice cream or we’re going to Disney World.   Similarly, educators tell me that three months into the semester, their students often don’t hear instructions accurate ..read more

By Tim Elmore   The numbers keep climbing. Both adults and students are suffering from anxiety levels that are worse than any period we’ve ever seen, including the Great Depression. More than 8 in 10 students admit to struggling with anxiety or depression on a regular basis, and adults report numbers have jumped from 11 percent in 2019 to 41 percent in 2021. More than 8 in 10 adults say that COVID-19 was causing significant stress in their lives. Further, 87 percent say the economy is a source of high stress and anxiety for them.   In 2018, Barnes and Noble, America’s largest book r ..read more

By Tim Elmore   I could hardly believe my ears. Six freshmen college students participated in a conversation I hosted informally on their campus. I brought up the popularity of Instagram accounts, and they immediately smiled, as if they had a secret they were keeping from me. When I asked why they were smiling, two of them chimed in, saying, “We’re no longer on Instagram.” This simple comment turned out to be a wider opinion. Most of those late teens were no longer posting on Instagram and were now mostly on TikTok and Snapchat.    This was news to me.   The Atlantic recent ..read more

By Andrew McPeak   Growing up, David Aguilar was obsessed with LEGOs. Like many kids he would build creations utilizing his imagination, but unlike many kids David was building to solve a specific problem: he had been born with only one hand.  David was born with a specific genetic condition called Poland Syndrome, which caused his right arm below the elbow to not fully develop at birth. His condition made growing up difficult because of how different he felt from other kids. LEGOs became both an outlet and a potential solution to his problem. What if he could build himself an arm to ..read more

By Tim Elmore You may have never heard the Betty Robinson story, but it’s worth knowing. It informs our work with students today. Betty was a kid who grew up a hundred years ago in Riverdale, Illinois. In high school, she had to catch a train to her campus, quite literally. One day, she found herself running on the platform as the train took off, and a teacher looked out the window to see her. He smirked, thinking to himself: that poor girl will never catch this train. The next thing he knew, Betty sat down next to him. She had outrun the train.   This teacher was also the school track co ..read more

By Tim Elmore One of the best decisions my parents made was during the summer of my eleventh year. I begged them to let me go to Bobby Leonard’s Sports Camp, one state over, and three hours away. I pestered them long enough to convince them it was a good idea.    My parents dropped me off on Sunday and were expected to pick me up the following Saturday. The place was beautiful, with baseball diamonds, basketball courts, and football fields. At first it looked like heaven, but by Monday night, I was begging my mom and dad to let me come home.    I was homesick.    ..read more