Yes, you can help your teen be a better writer this August – but how to do it might surprise you

I’ve talked to lots of parents who’ve tried to help their teens become better writers. Sometimes they try to explain topic sentences and paragraphs to them. Sometimes, they put on their editor hats and tut tut at their teen’s spelling and grammar mistakes. Some even try to assign their kids topics on which to write. Usually, by the time they contact me, their best efforts have overwhelmed their patience and eroded the positive relationship they used to have with their child.

If this sounds like an experience you’ve had, let me suggest a way you can help improve your teen’s writing – without ever teaching a lesson on paragraph structure at the kitchen table or picking up a red pen.

In Canadian high schools, students read and discuss stories, novels, poems, plays and visual works with a view to writing about a theme that emerges in the text. And those themes are sophisticated, ranging from power to alienation to forgiveness. Teachers look for a student’s ability to provide evidence from the selection to support their opinion, and a detailed and insightful discussion of the story’s relationship to the theme.

At the end of this school year, the teacher of one of my grade 10 coaching students told me that she and her English Language Arts teaching colleagues had noticed more students than usual were struggling with this task. Her theory was that part of this difficulty arose from COVID-related online learning, which cut students off from meaningful discussion with teachers and peers. ” Because students were all in their bubbles/ cohorts, and not able to interact in person, they weren’t exposed to the ideas and experiences of other people, which meant that they didn’t have to think as much beyond their own world.”

Her solution? Encouraging students to leave behind their virtual worlds this summer and immerse themselves in arts-based experiences, to help them “think a bit more in a holistic and abstract sense and discuss [these experiences] with as many people as possible to get their ideas and opinions, hopefully ones that are different from their own.” She believes ( and so do I) that these types of discussions will help teens to develop the skills and the confidence to write about ideas in more depth when they return to school in the fall.

If you’re a parent, or a grandparent, aunt, uncle or adult friend to a teen, consider inviting them to an arts-based event. Ask if they want to bring a friend or two. There are two parts to successfully providing these experiences: searching for events teens will enjoy, and giving them opportunities to express their opinions about what they’ve seen and heard.

Events to Attend

Of course, the first thing to find out is if your teen has ideas of their own for an event to attend. If not, here are a few to consider.

1) Barbenheimer

The two most talked about movie releases of the summer will provide lots of fodder for discussion. I’m waiting until the crowds at my local theater abate before seeing them, but after reading reviews, I’m keen to join in on the discussion, from Barbie’s feminist themes to the moral dilemmas faced by Oppenheimer.

2) A midsummer night’s live theatre adventure

If you live in or near an urban center, chances are there are live summer theatre events going on in August. In Edmonton, where I live, we have an annual Shakespeare festival that features a comedy and a tragedy performed in repertory, and a Fringe theater event with literally hundreds of plays to choose from. I plan to gather some of my coaching students as they arrive home from vacation later in the month to attend Romeo and Juliet, a favorite play of high school teachers everywhere.

3) A picture worth a thousand words

A lot of teens may perceive art galleries as boring. Maybe you hold the same impression. But it’s worth checking out what’s on at your local gallery over the summer. The Edmonton Art Gallery has a display of pop art, and when I visited, the Banksy exhibit was very popular with teens who were engaged by his anti-establishment art and a short film about his dystopian Dismaland, which pokes at the commercialism of amusement parks in general and Disneyland in particular.

Getting Them to Talk

Maybe your teen is a thousand word talker. On the other hand, maybe you’re more likely to get a one word response. I’ve got both types among my coaching students. Here are some strategies I’ve used to both get them talking and challenge their opinions:

1) Show genuine interest in and respect for what they have to say.

This usually starts with keeping your own mouth shut, at least for a while. Stating your own opinions or questioning theirs too quickly can easily shut down conversation.

2) Invite their opinions without becoming the Spanish Inquisition.

Try not to pepper them with questions in an effort to get them to talk, and remember that questions that can be answered yes/no will often get you just that. Avoid leading questions like ” Didn’t you just love/ hate….” which are really about getting them to agree with you. Instead, you can say, ” What did you think about…( a certain part/ the way an actor portrayed a character/why an artist portrayed an image as he did/ the reasons for certain choices like color, music etc.)

3) Admit you don’t have all the answers.

Don’t portray yourself as the all knowing adult. I often say to my students, ” I wasn’t that sure about….What did you think?”

4. Don’t ask ” Why do you think that?”

” Why” can sound sort of threatening. Instead, try “What an interesting perspective. What led you to that?” From there, you can keep the discussion going with, ” I wonder if another explanation could be…” or “From another angle, what else could it mean?”

August and the arts make great partners. Summer is starting to wind down and teens might be looking for activities to keep them busy. If attending an event also sparks their curiosity and leads to discussion, so much the better. There’s a good chance your teen’s ability to write skillfully and confidently about abstract ideas will grow as a result.