“In addition to schoolwide and systemic interventions, students who are identified as being at risk for school dropout (e.g., because of truancy or past grade retention) are offered peer support, participation in programs to address specific skill deficiencies, and academic interventions. For example, an ongoing peer support group facilitated by the school counselor might include low socioeconomic status or minority students who discuss the common challenges the group faces. Skills-based programs (e.g., problem-solving and social skills groups) and interventions to support academic skills (e.g., study skills workshops held before school) are coordinated by the school counselor and led by adult volunteers or students at the local college.” (White & Kelly, 2010, p.227)
Finally, teenagers lagging behind in physical exercise can be taught to experience the ‘Joy of Movement’. The idea here is to make physical exercise a ‘fun’ activity. Once highschoolers connect exercise to the notion of enjoyment, their eagerness to participate in sports increases. For example, going back to the nationwide study discussed earlier, students falling in groups A and B already experience the joy of movement, which is why they seek sports events and enthusiastically participate in them. Not only do they describe sports events as fun and enjoyable to get involved in, but also display a higher level of intensity for a sustained period of play. This instills in them valuable qualities like persistence, perseverance, etc, which would help them deal with crises in their adult-life in a mature way. (Mcdevitt, et. al., 2008, p.115)
In conclusion and in sum, we learnt that several factors cause low motivation among teenagers. These include low socio-economic background, family dysfunctionality, lack of metacognition skills, and lack of physical activity. Recreational drug use is also identified as a key reason. Some of these causes are themselves consequences of low motivation, depending on the individual case history. In other words, what is a cause for one individual student can be the consequence for another. But what is undeniable is the close link between these malefic factors and their outcomes, which thwart proper growth and development of high school students and also continue to haunt them in their adult lives. Hence, timely intervention becomes very important. School administrators are already being proactive in coming up with creative intervention ideas for low motivation issues discussed above. Based on education psychology and sociological theories, these intervention methods are developed to cater to different groups of teenagers with different deficiency areas. Some of these intervention programs are already showing positive outcomes, which should give disadvantaged students hope. What is also needed is greater co-ordination between government agencies, school administrations and parents in implementing intervention programs.
References:
American School Counselor Association. (2003). The ASCA National Model: A framework for school counseling programs (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Author.