A lot of information has come out about the impact of the pandemic on humans across the world, but one group that seemed to be most overlooked was our middle grade kids. Not old enough to work or drive, but too old to just play all day at home. Unlike their younger siblings, they were not excited about spending hours and hours with mom and dad and were instead missing their friends, their outlets and their routines. While the idea of not going to school may have seemed pretty great at first, the isolation created a lack of motivation, depression and even a reduction in learning in many teens. As said best back in June, these kids were being sequestered at home at the stage in life they need their peers and teachers most.

For years we have seen a need for better programs to keep this age group active and engaged, but nothing made it more clear than the past year in quarantine. While it’s easy to put the responsibility on these kids (after all, they are old enough to be creative with their time and want to be treated like adults!), they are in fact, still kids who need guidance and positive role models. They need us to show them the way.

So, how do we help?

Help create self awareness of mental and physical health:

Mental health in kids and teens is a hot topic these days and rightfully so. The stress of school work, extra-curricular activities, social media and uncertain times has led to an increase in anxiety and depression for our youth. Layer on a pandemic resulting in multiple days at home has created a feeling of isolation during a time when socializing and friendships are most important- not just for popularity, but developmentally as kids are figuring out where they fit in the world.

While the increase in connectivity through social media may seem like the antidote to a feeling of isolation, it can actually be part of the problem. Studies show that teens frequently look to social media for validation, but end up with unrealistic expectations for themselves leading to self-consciousness and negative self worth. Being self absorbed, self -conscious or irritable may be written off as basic teen attitude, but these are often signs of depression, even more so than appearing sad.

Fortunately studies also show that we can combat the effects of anxiety and depression with tools we already have such as following a healthy diet, getting outside for some sunlight and exercise, getting enough quality sleep every night and focusing on hobbies that help relax or energize us.  As a parent or leader of our youth, we can encourage all of these things by talking opening about the benefits and modeling this behavior. Physical health directly impacts mental health so if nothing else, a proper diet, enough sleep and daily physical activity is a great place to start.

While kids need to learn to navigate a certain amount of stress in their lives on their own, talking to your kids about their friends, school work, teachers and their interests can help uncover things that are triggering unnecessary stress. Helping your kids understand how different factors can impact their physical and mental wellbeing will help them recognize the symptoms and self-correct or even ask for help.

The easiest way to help them create self awareness is to lead by example. Be present with your family and friends, establish boundaries for electronics and social media, move your body any way that makes you feel good and talk with your kids about healthy eating habits and better choices you can make together. Explain WHY you are making these changes and you may be surprised to see they will start to make these changes too. Teens don’t always make the best decisions for their health so it is our responsibility to teach them and to provide them opportunities to make the healthier choices each day.

At AKA we are doing our part to build physical activity into each day of the summer along with reminders about how getting enough sleep and following a healthy diet can help them have more energy. Our programs allow them to enjoy sports and games in person with friends so they can fill their need for peer interaction while making their own memories. All of this combined with a wide variety of sports and games creates a healthy environment for our youth.

Show them that they can have a positive impact on the world:

The idea of spending a day volunteering may evoke an seemingly unhealthy amount of eye rolling from your middle schoolers, but volunteering can also ignite new ideas and new passions. Seeing a need out in the world leads to change, inventions, advancements in technology. Seeing these needs helps create leaders, entrepreneurs, teachers and better citizens.

Cleaning up a garden bed can ignite a passion to grow healthy food in the community. Helping a senior citizen or animals in a shelter can lead to compassion and respect, coaching our youngest campers through new games ignites leadership and an excitement to teach…

More importantly any of these things can show them that they have the power and the tools to have a positive impact on the world right now, as they are.

This summer we will be focusing on community service for our middle grade participants through projects like grounds clean up, making blankets for animal shelters, building bird houses for senior citizens, reading with kindergarten and first graders and so many more. We want to support the communities around us, but more importantly, we want to show these kids that they can support the communities around them.

Get them out of their comfort zone:

How many stories have you heard about “Gen Z” not knowing how to do something for themselves? The bigger issue is that we are not pushing our kids out of their comfort zone to succeed or to fail and learn how to do different things. Are these kids truly lazy or are they just uncomfortable in their own skin? How are they building confidence if they are never trying anything new? How will they be able to find their passions and know how they want to spend their lives if they are safe in their bedrooms behind a screen?

This year AKA is going to push these kids to try new things. Our hope is that they will find all of these new adventures fun and exciting, but even if they are a little hesitant, we see that as a good thing! We are creating a community where we encourage them to take risks. While details are still being finalized, we will be introducing things like mountain biking, rope courses, paintball and more.

Taking the First Step:

We could link hundreds of articles on how we are seeing an increase in anxiety, depression and obesity in teens, but it’s pretty clear that these kids need us.

AKA has a program geared toward building leadership and physical health for our middle grade kids called Speed of Play (SOP). The SOP program was designed to help older kids make the most out of an active summer by encouraging them to play sports, be creative, work hard, stay active, socialize, and mentor younger kids. While we still do all of these things, our first step at AKA is to elevate and enhance the Speed of Play program to bring these kids back out into the world through sports, leadership, volunteering and social interaction! We hope you will join us!