Many different reasons can be given to explain why teenagers are in need of additional motivation and support in their personal and professional growth. Compared to children, adolescents are more independent with high demands and expectations. Therefore, it is important for them to stay motivated and understand the worth of self-improvement and progress. At the same time, the role of parents and teachers cannot be neglected because motivation is not always easy to achieve.
Experience and background knowledge are important. In this discussion, special attention will be paid to the importance of adolescent motivation, the explanation of why many teenagers remain unmotivated, and the role of grownups in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation through communication, recognition, and celebration of achievements.
The motivation of adolescents has to be properly organized, and the first step is the assessment of the reasons why many teenagers are unmotivated today. On the one hand, when adolescents are able to cope with different tasks, complete hard projects, and receive constant compliments from teachers and parents, they may easily lose interest and stay unmotivated because they overestimate their smartness and uniqueness. On the other hand, when young people face certain difficulties and cannot demonstrate good results, they may be punished and humiliated, so they cannot even understand what goes wrong and when. In both cases, motivation plays an important role in personal development.
Parents and teachers should be ready to investigate different methods to support teenagers in their intentions to be motivated. The examples of Michael Jordan, Thomas Edison, or Walt Disney can be used to show how people faced challenges and learned to deal with them to achieve the desired success (Cannon, 2009). Some of them made use of intrinsic motivation when their behaviors were shaped by a personal desire to do something and gain benefits.
Some people prefer to rely on the outcomes of extrinsic motivation when behaviors are defined by the necessity to get rewards or, at least, avoid punishment. If children are usually more extrinsically motivated, adolescents find it necessary to think more about their own sake.
The motivation of teenagers may be organized by parents and teachers in the form of communication and recognition of achievements made. At the same time, it is necessary to celebrate both strengths and weaknesses because they create new opportunities for young people. Finally, not all teens are aware of their responsibilities, schoolwork, and tasks. Instead of demanding something from them, parents, as well as tutors, may spend some time to give explanations, show examples, and speak on the problems.
For example, Majorano, Musetti, Brondino, and Corsano (2015) explain parent- and peer-related loneliness as one of the main reasons for the lack of motivation and low productivity. Do you agree with the idea that such factors as autonomy and loneliness increase the role of parents in teens’ motivation?
References
Cannon, C. (2009). The best motivation video.
Majorano, M., Musetti, A., Brondino, M., & Corsano, P. (2015). Loneliness, emotional autonomy and motivation for solitary behavior during adolescence. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(11), 3436-3447.