WORDS: Kate Holland, freelance creative and parent of a year 9 boy.
When last year’s NAPLAN results were released in South Australia, year 9 boys were the cohort in need of most help. Conversations about this ‘tricky’ year abounded and my attention was piqued, not least because we had a son in year 8 at the time.
This year level has long intrigued me. Rightly or wrongly, I warned my eldest about its potential perils, especially the friendship niggles as these were in abundance when I was growing up. It’s no coincidence that plenty of rites of passage programs are aimed at this age group. Geelong Grammar sends its year 9 students to board for a year in the high country!
Of course, not every school can offer such an immersive program, nor can all families afford to enrol their children in a course outside of school hours. According to Clinical psychologist and author Andrew Fuller, neither are necessary. He says there are multiple things that parents and teachers can do to help students stay on track.
Build identity and character
Andrew has been involved in the creation and review of many rites of passage programs, including Timbertop at Geelong Grammar. He sees year 9 as an interesting phase of middle adolescence.
“After about 10 years in most organisations, you get this thing called long service leave. By year 9, students have been in the system for about ten years, and it shows. They’re weary and a bit sick of it – neither at the beginning of it, nor at the end.
“After a surge in neuroplasticity and brain growth, especially between years 6 and 8, young people are smart and capable. They’re also trying to define themselves and form their sense of identity. They are acutely aware of relationships, gaining social approval, and being regarded as a good friend and good person. This time of life is rich in opportunities to apply their learning strengths and use their abilities to make meaningful contributions to the world.”
Don’t offer help, ask for it
As parents and teachers, we spend a lot of time asking young people if they need our help. Yet year 9s are often trying to prove that they have power and agency in their life. For some, particularly boys, the offer is perceived as putting them lower in the hierarchy and they turn it down.
“Rather than asking if they need help, we should be asking them for help. I would love to see the government set up an opportunity for year 9 students to take on some of the anticipatable problems that confront our country. Things like population distribution, water storage, climate control, agriculture, pandemic issues, threats from around the world. We could hand them the data and say, ‘have a go at solving this, come up with a proposal’. That’s what year 9 is about; being adventurous, creative, and thinking in groups – starting to explore what’s possible in life.”
Create a connection
As adults we know that making a connection can help develop a shared purpose. Year 9s are finely tuned for social connection meaning that without one, education has no point. With one, there’s potential to teach them just about anything.
“Year 9 is either the Renaissance or the Dark Ages, depending on the circumstances. The Renaissance is fantastic because you can rip into all these big issues that life has on offer and really grapple with them. But in the Dark Ages you shut down, get bored and disinterested. And that can vary class by class or teacher by teacher.
“Schools need to be in the business of maximising student potential by assuming they’re all gifted in some way and connecting with them to build on those strengths. The same goes for parents. It’s a time of great faith. They need to be connected enough to interpret the nuanced demands of leave me alone, but also don’t. Year 9 students need love and attention.”
Foster interests
Anecdotally, I’ve heard many parents extol the virtues of tapping into their own child’s particular interests and helping to foster that. I’ve seen it work with my own. They become energised and engaged. Andrew agrees.
“Basically, if you take the glass-is-half-empty-with-lots-of-stuff-missing-and-we-need-to-fix-it-approach, you’re going to create disillusionment. It’s the job of teachers and parents to find out what’s in that kid’s glass and make more of it, then you get a whole other world. The mission is to find the strengths that lie within these young people – learning strengths, their capacities, interests, and passions, and to utilise them to broaden out into other areas. Through that you get kids who are excited about stuff and achieve.”
Nurture a range of friendships
Fitting in with their peers and being validated is a very significant part of year 9 life. While you can’t choose your children’s friends you can, and should, help them establish a solid pool of support.
“The kids who thrive through this period know that they are loved by their families. Generally, they also have an adult outside their family who is trustworthy that they can turn to. They also need to have a diversity of friendship groups so that if they fall out with one bunch, which sometimes happens, they have another one to fall back on.
“You can help structure that by encouraging them to be part of a sporting team, arts group or chess team, for example, so they have different social groups they can link with. This will also help with one of the biggest fears at this age, social anxiety. You can make entering new social arenas a habitual part of their life in the years prior.”
Embrace the positive side of technology
It’s easy to talk about the negatives of technology use, and Andrew concedes they exist. Stay across them.
“But also note that most year 9 kids have very intense social relationships with their friends by co-gaming and are in touch via technology throughout the day. And for those students who would otherwise be isolated, technology offers socialisation with likeminded people all over the world.
“Just because things don’t look the way that they used to look doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad.”
Reassure regularly
Progress can stall in anyone’s life. It doesn’t have to be the final story. According to Andrew, the biggest gift we can provide a year 9 is our belief in them.
“Say to them, I know at the moment you don’t believe in you, but I love you and I do believe in you. I’m going to stick with you regardless of what you think about yourself. Because I know that long term, you’re going to be amazing. You’re actually amazing right now but you’re going to get even more amazing, and I can’t wait to see it.
“That installation of hope and belief is probably the strongest antidote to the disillusionment and disparagement that some year 9s can feel.”
As the little engine said, ‘I think I can, I think I can.’ Then he did.
