The current shutdown of school system to fight the spread of corona virus has a silver lining for one group; Teenagers. Keeping teenagers idle for a long period of time is not actually a good idea as these are young minds creative at both good and evil.
These chronically sleep deprived high school students can and should take advantage of not having to be anywhere and stock up at sleep. While teenagers can take better care of themselves than other elementary school siblings, they do need some structure during this down time.
Keeping some sort of schedule including for online assignment and reading will make the return to school whenever it comes a little easier, and provide sanity for parents. Work with your teenager friends to create this schedule, allow time to just relax as well.
Teenagers are advised to keep the brain engaged. There are ways to get that done and they include:
1. Writing: Grab a journal and a pen and get writing. Every teenager is embedded with unique skills. Writing is a good way of getting emotions down on paper. There are just so many reflexions and ideas to pen down.
2. Online workout: Our teens are used to a high level of martial arts and physical activity. I have hundreds of online workouts and a few that I really love. Teenagers can also attend a couple of zoom martial arts workouts and can work on making that a new habit.
3. Reading a book via face time: Teenagers can also read as it is also a form of brain exercise, learning new things, keeping the brain busy and developing creative ideas.
4. Voluntary organizations: Teenagers can engage in voluntary activities in the society, ward or church. These works are not regarded as a waste but as a way of showing humanity and care.
The shutdown of the Educational sector should be one of the alarming pressures mounted on teenagers as they not only battle with education but also with psychological and mental stress of just feeling wasted and unproductive. As there are ways to curb those feelings, very teenager is treasurable as you can just be as useful as you want , get creative and have fun where and when you can.
Article by Sandra Ibeakamma (Africa Teens Summit Contributor)
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