Thoughts about 'adulting'
‘Adulting’ is an informal term used to describe the stage in life when a young person becomes more responsible and grown-up in their behaviour and strives to be more independent. It’s an exciting but stressful time. This video clip considers the experiences of a diverse group of young people who share their thoughts and beliefs on ‘adulting’, the challenges they face, and ways they have approached help-seeking during this significant life change from adolescence to adulthood. It can be helpful to remind your students that there is no one right way to manage these changes.
Year level
11-12
Duration
30 minutes
Type
In class activity
SEL Competencies
Self-awareness
Self-management
Social awareness
Responsible decision-making
Learning intention
Students can identify and manage the changes and challenges that occur when transitioning to adulthood.
Key outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
identify the common changes and challenges young people experience during their transition to adulthood
recognise that change and challenge are a normal part of growing up, and explain the similarities and differences in young people’s experiences
apply appropriate practical strategies to manage a challenge in their life
identify where to seek help during difficult times.
Materials needed
A whiteboard/smartboard
Notebooks or laptops
Mapped to
This resource is not mapped to a curriculum.
Activity 1
Pros and cons of adulting
15 minutes
As a group, watch the video clip on 'adulting.'
There are many pros and cons of transitioning to adulthood.
In the video clip, young people share perceived cons of adulting like “There are bills to pay”, “Stress, responsibility, being broke all the time” “Struggling to tread water”.
Ask students to individually identify the pros and cons of becoming an adult (students may use the ideas in the video to help get them started but encourage them to think of new ideas).
Ask students to share their list with a partner. Discuss what the similarities and differences are with their lists.
As a class group, discuss the pros and cons of becoming an adult. Discuss why there are similarities and differences in their lists. Reinforce the message that experiencing change and challenge is a normal part of growing up.
Activity 2
Practical actions
15 minutes
Ask students to individually choose one con/worry from their list.
Ask students to identify three practical actions they could take to help manage this worry. Refer the students to ReachOut.com for ideas.
Invite students to share their ideas as a class group and collate the ideas on the whiteboard.
Ask students to write down practical strategies from the whiteboard list that they would find helpful to use now or in the future.
Debrief
Any change can be a source of positive and negative experiences in a young person’s life.
The transition to adulthood is a particularly significant change. It’s important that all students know practical ways to seek help for difficulties they are experiencing during adulting, no matter how big or small they think their problem is.
