Description
209: Taking a Hit: The Post-COVID-19 Adolescent
Chap Clark, Ph.D.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
543 Aliso Ave.
Newport Beach, CA 92663
Summary
2020 changed the world, but how has it changed the way young people experience the world as they attempt to rebuild their lives? For the past decade and more, issues affecting adolescent development include everything from the impact of technology (in general) and social media, particularly cyber-bullying, and the increasing sense of isolation and anxiety that has become epidemic among the younger generation. Then came 2020. For everyone, last year has taken its toll. However, for our young, those on top of social isolation and societal polarization have had to deal with across-the-board online schooling and the loss of such developmental staples as sports, clubs, youth ministries, proms, and graduations. What is different for children and teens is they have had little life experience to know how to re-engage their developmental journeys toward maturity. This workshop will begin with the most fundamental of human developmental questions and assumptions, comparing and contrasting them with how 2020 may have shaken—if not shattered—them, and then providing a framework for parents, teachers, coaches, churches, and the mental health community to be a source of support and strength to the young in our care.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:
• Name and describe traditional foundational developmental needs and longings of children and adolescents
• Identify how foundational developmental needs and longings may have been challenged and re-shaped by growing up in 2020 and develop new questions that will illuminate the nurture of today’s young people
• Design strategies and practices for licensed mental health professionals that will enable a child and/or an adolescent to thrive as they grow toward successful post-2020 adulthood
