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BRIGHT IDEAS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

THIS ISSUE: The Best Negativity and Apathy Busters

   Other Online Issues: Maximum-Strength Motivation Makers (Click)
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Check out these lively and unusual, apathy-busting, behavior intervention techniques. They give you a peek at our huge treasure trove of terrific attitude improvement strategies. These unique behavior interventions are just different enough that they will work when conventional approaches fail. This issue, along with all of our print Bright Ideas Newsletters are included in the Quickest Kid Fixer-Uppers Series books and ebooks (click here for more information on that series). Click here to view all the Bright Ideas Newsletter issues.
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adolescent apathy methods

Many youth are entrenched in negativity, hopelessness and apathy. Their stated life goal is "nuthin," or to be a drug dealer, or even dead. Some common interventions can actually cause some kids to become even more negative.

Negativity and apathy are seldom random events. The child generally has reason to believe that "nuthin" is all he can be, perhaps seeing family members or peers ravaged by violence, drugs or other adversity. Despair is a normal reaction that can blunt pain, but sometimes adults focus on attempting to ease the hopelessness in the belief that before the child will create and work for dreams and hopes, she must leave negativity behind.

Attempting to take away the buffer that despair provides can cause some children to become more determined that ever to be nobody. Hearing "Sure, you can be anything you want" to a child whose life experience has shown otherwise may be a bit like saying to you, "Sure you can win that lottery!" Here are some interventions that expose the child to other possible futures without attempting to take away the defensive despair. The despair will diminish or persist as the child's life experiences warrant.

Apathy-Busting Interventions

If You Did Know

encourage discouraged students poster

Discouraged kids often answer "I dunno" to the question of "What do you want to be?" Typically, adults respond, "Oh sure, you must want to be something!" and a power struggle can ensue. Instead answer, "If you did know, what would it be?" This answer often catches the youth off guard, and since it allows the child to preserve their defenses while looking at other potential futures, you may get an answer or speculation that you might never had gotten with a more confrontational or direct approach. Poster #42 (shown here, click for details) offers another way to help youngsters visualize a better future.

Future Homes and Gardens

Very discouraged youth may have serious problems imagining any possible positive futures. Play "Future Homes and Gardens." Ask the kids to draw floor plans or make other illustrations of their future ideal home. Becoming able to imagine possible positive outcomes is important to helping shape positive outcomes.

In the Year 2525

procrastinating student poster

Some youth have never considered the possibility of positive outcomes. Expose them to some by asking them to write you a letter describing their lives as though it was 25 years from now. Students who cannot or will not write, can draw, or make an audio or video tape. Many discouraged students will create responses that you would never have guessed they had the capacity to ever imagine. Students who resist, can work with a friend, with each friend creating a letter for the other. Another tactic: tackle the procrastination. Our Poster #41, shown here, can help. (Click for details.)

Funny Futures

Some youth persistently cling to negative goals especially if confronted directly. Instead, use humor to ease the rigidity. When a youth states a negative goal, respond with a silly remark such as this comment to a burly teen-age boy: "Well I heard you wanted to become a prima ballerina and move to Iceland." The youth may grin and give a response that is a lot more likely than yours'.


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The Best Negativity and Apathy Busters, Part 2 of 3
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(Article Continued)

Negate Negative Thinking

Here are some thought-provoking and unusual ways to help youth reconsider
some problematic life paths

"I Won't Need School When I'm a Drug Dealer" apathetic teens

Some students believe that they won't need school because they plan to sell drugs. Expose their faulty logic with this tongue-in-cheek comment: " You're right! You especially won't need math because your supplier will be completely understanding and sympathetic when you give him too little money for drugs. He'll understand that you never learned math in school and be quite forgiving!"

teen apathy "My Gang will Take Care of Me"

Ask students to find "old" gang members. Assist the students to notice that there are few "old" gang members, and the ones that they do find are usually dead, or "distressed." Include problems such as incarceration, homelessness, injury or poverty as being distressed. Ask students to determine how effectively gang members can take care of them if they are dead or distressed. Ask the students to calculate how often gang members spend time incarcerated and would be unavailable to "take care of me."

teen apathy

"I'll Just Go on Welfare"

Have students follow news reports to become aware of the possible end of welfare. Students can contact the local welfare office to see how much they could receive on welfare, and for how long. Have students develop a budget for what they would receive and see how comfortably they could live. Help students estimate the date that welfare could cease to exist.


If you want to get more methods like these, or want a copy of the ideas covered here, order our Quickest Kid Fixer-Uppers books, $15 each. They contain all of our newsletters in book form. Available as books or instant download and read ebooks. (Click for details.)

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The Best Negativity and Apathy Busters, Part 3 of 3

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Show Students That Crime Doesn't Pay

...Nearly As Well As They Imagined

methods for unmotivated teens

Here's the average annual income of some potential occupations your students may be considering:

    Drug Dealer: $27,000 before deducting for guns, ammo, attorneys, court costs and seizures.

    Burglar: $2,900 before deducting for tools, injuries, attorneys, court costs and seizures.

    Auto Thief: $18,700 before deducting for tools, injuries, attorneys, court costs and seizures.

    Robber: $3,500 before deducting for tools, injuries, attorneys, court costs and seizures.

To order this issue or other issues of the Bright Ideas Newsletters, get our
Quickest Kid Fixer-Uppers Series (shown below, click to view) which contains all the newsletters. View all the Bright Ideas Newsletter issue topics by scrolling down the page or by clicking here. This article is excerpted from the full print newsletter. Copyright 1996, 2006 by Youth Change. All rights reserved.
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THE ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS

Q: For multi-problem kids, are there key problem areas that I should address first or as soon as possible?

A: Here are the top two areas. The first area that we always recommend you consider is safety, but not just for acting out, conduct disordered, oppositional, defiant, angry, violent, impulsive types of youngsters. Remember to notice all your classroom management concerns, and your entire group of students. Consider safety issues for less noticeable populations even though you may view these youngsters as your "good" or quiet ones.
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There are plenty of other students who are often typically overlooked, such as depressed, withdrawn, abused, neglected, thought disordered, and anxious students. Children in crisis, socially maladjusted, and alcoholic and addicted kids also often are missed. You must be especially careful to closely monitor the safety issues faced by students who may be quietly gesturing or suicidal. Carefully watch pregnant girls, teen parents, and those adolescents and children who have severe emotional or family problems. This guideline holds true for teachers, sped teachers, principals, court workers, justice workers, foster parents, and case managers. You don't have to be trained as a social worker, counselor, psychologist or mental health worker to incur an obligation to keep all kids safe. All youth workers have that obligation, regardless of their training, job title, or the mission of their site.

The second problem area that we recommend you consider addressing as soon as possible is attendance and punctuality. Why? If you are the best teacher, counselor or special educator-- whatever your job-- it doesn't matter how talented and effective you are if that student isn't in your classroom or office. The time to start teaching attendance and punctuality is Day 1, Week 1 of your contact with the child. If a child is absent, nothing else you do that day really matters for that student. Our All the Best Answers for the Worst Kid Problems Series (shown below) includes innovative strategies for many of these critical starting points, plus much more. Order the e-book version (click here) and download it immediately as a printable e-book. Click here right now and you will read and print our best solutions in just about 60 seconds. Or get this item as a paperback book. Click for details. These new tools can truly help turnaround even the most out-of-control, unmanageable classroom or group, and end even serious classroom management nightmares.

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