Deeper Thinking, Better Writing: Language Lessons for Teenagers

Whenever I'm working with teen writers, I often find myself going through mountains of resources, hard pressed to decide on how to engage these brilliant young brains with strong opinions about the world.

Many of my teen students are too immersed in their own worlds, which tend to be rather narrow. One can say it is a sign of the times - afterall, these teenagers can hardly be blamed for an over-reliance on devices and the internet in 2024. How can I get my teen students to stay engaged and think more deeply, instead of just scrolling aimlessly through short reels of less than 30 seconds each?

Let's take our cues from real people around us, with real stories! Choose an article from the news portals. Pick a high quality video featuring the topic to be taught. Bring up a recent controversy, or what we call "gone viral". In this case, I had found my old book of TED Talks featuring Singapore speakers, so my teen students could relate to the local personalities and examples.

It might be hard to get teens to do homework, but everyone has an opinion, and teens even more so. Hear them out, let them air their points of view. Only when they have listened, watched, thought, spoken, and debated, will the writing come more naturally to them.

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