[et_pb_section][et_pb_row make_fullwidth="off" use_custom_width="off" width_unit="on" use_custom_gutter="off" padding_mobile="off" allow_player_pause="off" parallax="off" parallax_method="off" make_equal="off" padding_top_1="40" padding_bottom_1="20"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Title" background_layout="light" text_orientation="center" text_font_size="52" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid" custom_padding="10||10|" text_text_color="#666666"]<strong>Academic Motivation</strong>[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Content" background_layout="light" text_orientation="left" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid" custom_padding="20||20|"]<p>In our research and coaching sessions with adolescents and parents, YTN came to some surprising conclusions:</p>

<p>1.  Less then 30% of youth had goals of their own for their lives and academics.  Most felt pressure or had performance expectations from their parents that left many feeling like they consistently fell short.  As a result many youth had little internal desire to achieve good grades and instead were frustrated by the pressure and expectations of their parents. Given the oppositional nature of the <a href="#" title="">adolescent brain</a> expectations and external pressure actually contributed to the motivation issues parents were trying to address.</p>

<p>2.  Because of the changes that occur in the adolescent brain, the approach parents have been trained to use regarding homework and academic motivation can have an inverse effect.   Such approaches will frequently trigger the oppositional nature of the adolescent brain producing a defensive or inverse outcome.   Many of the youth we interact with who have significant motivation issues arrive at a point of not caring.  This in fact is a natural defense mechanism that protects them from a sense of falling short and failure.  If they do not care or make an effort, then the outcome does not impact their self- perspective nearly as much and helps them buffer themselves from the predicted response of their parents.  In short they grow numb.</p>

<p>3.  Even youth that have given up still have a desire to succeed.  In our adolescent coaching and research we frequently have the opportunity to talk with youth that are greatly struggling.  In every case, once through their defense barrier, we find they still desire to succeed, but have often experienced a complete crash of their internal confidence and belief that they can succeed.  Thus, why try?  These youth often turn to other escapes that mask their sense of failure.  Escape takes on many forms ranging from social media and video games where they escape into an artificial reality, feel accepted and successful, to pornography and substance abuse that provide temporary relief from self-doubt and their pain of failure.</p>

<p>To address deeper motivation issuesparents need to come alongside their kids and help rebuild their confidence one step at a time by drawing on their internal desire to succeed.  It is critical that parents do not fall back into old approaches and pressure that bring back to the surface the pool of negative feelings that lead to demotivation. Youth in such a position are apt to become defensive as they cannot take one more negative about themselves.They will quickly revert to the oppositional behavior and motivation patterns consistent with the oppositional nature of the adolescent brain.   At the core of the Secrets of Influential Parenting is the concept of internal desire rather than external motivation tactics that we have been raised to believe are the best way to parent but backfire with this generation of youth.</p>[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]