The Three Steps Toward Maturity
1. Understand
2. Care
3. Act
Our three steps towards maturity came about as we began to notice that often students lacking maturity struggled meeting the demands of school.
When discussing one of our literature pieces (The Trout) a student was able to define, in these three simple steps, the difference between the actions of Julia and her younger brother Stephen.
The first step towards maturity is to be able to understand the consequences of one’s actions. We will hold a child’s hand as we walk them across the street until they are able to understand the consequences of darting out into the road without looking. Students need to understand why they attend school, what their responsibilities are and the good and bad consequences. If students are not yet able to comprehend the long term, or implicit consequences, teachers and parents will use more immediate, disciplinary consequences to assist.
The second step towards maturity is to be able to care about the long term and implicit consequences of their actions internally. This can often come from collected experiences and observations, but does not necessarily come with age. A healthy level of self-respect and self-esteem are also required.
The third step towards maturity is to be able to act responsibly in a consistent manner because it is the right thing to do. Adolescents are always striving for more independence and freedom. They do not always understand that with increased freedom comes increased responsibility. Parents and teachers must make judgments based upon previous behaviors or actions whether the young adult is ready for more independence.
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