Too Cool For School And Reading? How to Motivate Your Teens to Read

By Taylor Decuir

    Whether you’re a parent or a teacher, getting your teens to read can be a challenge.  Helping them to develop intrinsic reading motivation, the desire or interest to read, is even harder. The good news is that you play a role in this process by encouraging teens to expand their reading beyond predetermined curriculums. This fosters a sense of independence and reading motivation.  

    A study involving 1781 rural eighth and ninth graders explored the relationship between reading attitudes and reading behaviors. Participants completed a survey measuring time spent reading for school, entertainment, or information. Time spent reading increased, but the personal significance of reading decreased for students. Cantrell et al. (2018) discovered that the perception of reading as unimportant has lifelong effects on the educational or career choices students make. However, you can encourage students to explore their interests through reading. This may help establish relevant, personal connections that spark reading motivation. 
 
    A study of sixty ninth-graders explored how teachers can help motivate students while enhancing performance. Before a standardized test, teachers gave positive feedback to one group of students in the hopes that praise would increase motivation, performance on a standardized test, and reading comprehension. However, the results did not establish a link between praise and motivation since “feedback did not specifically target interest” (Wolters et al., 2017). Both groups demonstrated similar performance and reading comprehension levels. While praise and support build trust between students and teachers, feedback alone does not stimulate internal motivation.

    One of the best ways teachers can help foster reading motivation in students is by incorporating more student-based activities in the classroom (Neugebauer and Gilmour, 2020). This helps to personalize the reading experience while ensuring teens have the autonomy they need to find excitement in reading. For example, teachers can use small groups, one-on-one instruction with students, or encourage students to swap books. 

    One study looked at the role teachers play that can boost motivation in middle schoolers during a time when students’ academic motivation declines and reading becomes a chore. One hundred and sixty-one urban middle students with lower reading scores participated in a study that measured autonomy, competence, positive teacher feedback, and student collaboration. Neugebauer and Gilmour (2020) found that reading motivations varied depending on the environment. 

    The type of reading material also influenced students’ attitudes and reading motivation. For example,  students showed less reading motivation when given textbooks or worksheets. Instead, students preferred “texts that allow[ed] them to make self-to text connections including connected with characters and ideas and cultivating their personal interest” (Neugebauer and Gilmour, 2020). While eighty percent of teachers rely on textbooks, students’ preference should be factored into curriculum selections, and teens should be encouraged to choose to content that they can see themselves in. 

    All three studies reveal gaps in literacy that school is supposed to be addressing. Traditional classroom lectures and textbooks, while important, aren’t enough. In order for our teens to feel motivated to read, they need options that make them want to read.  

References

Cantrell, S. C., Rintamaa, M., Anderman, E. M., & Anderman, L. H. (2018). Rural adolescents’ reading motivation, achievement and behavior across transition to high school. Journal of Educational Research, 111(4), 417–428. https:/doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2017.1284737

Neugebauer, S. R. & Gilmour, A.F. (2020). The ups and downs of reading across content areas: The association between instruction and fluctuations in reading motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(2), 344-363. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000373

Piko, K. (2021). Vector illustration of a girl and boy reading a book on an abstract geometric background in a trendy style. [Photograph]. Shutterstock. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vector-illustration-girl-boy-reading-book-1421434031

Wolters, C. A., Barnes, M. A., Kulesz, P. A., York, M., & Francis, D. J. (2017). Examining a motivational treatment and its impact on adolescents’ reading comprehension and fluency. Journal of Educational Research, 110(1), 98–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2015.1048503

     

So… You Want to Talk About Cyberbullying

By: Catherine Blanchard

            Navigating adolescence is hard enough, but in today’s current climate, newer generations are having to learn how to navigate their interpersonal relationships in-person as well as online. Interacting with others online can be especially difficult because normal social cues or expectations can be lost over online communication. Moreover, these problems that exist in normal adolescent communication, namely bullying, also carry over into online communication, which in turn presents a whole host of new and difficult issues. By detailing and exploring current research done specifically studying adolescents’ encounters with cyberbully, I hope to demystify cyberbullying as a whole and provide some practical information that can aid parents in handling this subject with their children.

            Cyberbullying, as defined by researcher McLoughlin, is similar to any other bullying that might occur in the halls or classrooms of a school. It is malicious, targeted, and not a one-time occurrence. The difference, however, is that cyberbullying takes place online whether via social media, texts, email, or any other form of online communication (2019). In a study conducted by McLoughlin, students at 8 different schools ranging from12-17 in South Australia participated in a survey which, among other things, sought to measure the negative social states and social connectedness associated with cyberbullying. Their results concluded that victims of cyberbullying were “a particularly vulnerable group, experiencing higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress than those who have never been involved in cyberbullying as a victim or bully” (2019). Thus, cyberbullying has real effects on adolescent’s mental health which should be considered when handling issues with cyberbullying.

            As for those who engage in acts that express aggression over the internet, research suggests that they are not free from negative effects as well (Washington et al., 2018). In a study conducted in China observing 494 students predominately of the middle-class socioeconomic background, students were asked to complete self-report assessments of a number of things including cyber aggression, optimism about peers, and loneliness. By having students also fill out popularity nomination surveys, researchers were also able to observe whether certain students had a good standing amongst their classmates. The results of this study found that “the more children engaged in cyber aggression, the lonelier they felt, the less optimistic they were about current and future peer engagements, and the fewer classroom mutual friends they had” (Washington et al., 2018). From this research, we can gather that those who participate in cyber bullying also are negatively affected by their actions.

            Lastly, its interesting to note how cyberbullying can greatly vary from traditional bullying. One of the aspects of cyberbullying is that, because it is online, there is a level of anonymity. This, according to Wachs is called “Toxic Online Disinhibition” which refers specifically to the phenomenon where toxic behavior is more likely to occur in online communication because of the lack of face-to-face interaction (2019). Luckily, having this knowledge can help schools and parents implement educational programs for the adolescents in their care that can help them better understand communication over the internet and aid them in practicing safe and respectful internet etiquette.

References

McLoughlin, L. T., Spears, B. A., Taddeo, C. M., & Hermens, D. F. (2019). Remaining connected in the face of cyberbullying: Why social connectedness is important for mental health. Psychology in the Schools, 56(6), 945–958. https://doi-org.ezproxy.franu.edu/10.1002/pits.22232

Wachs, S., Wright, M. F., & Vazsonyi, A. T. (2019). Understanding the overlap between cyberbullying and cyberhate perpetration: Moderating effects of toxic online disinhibition. Criminal Behaviour & Mental Health, 29(3), 179–188. https://doi-org.ezproxy.franu.edu/10.1002/cbm.2116

Washington, R., Cohen, R., Berlin, K. S., Hsueh, Y., & Zhou, Z. (2018). The relation of cyber aggression to peer social competence in the classroom for children in China. Social Development, 27(4), 715–731. https://doi-org.ezproxy.franu.edu/10.1111/sode.12314