When teenagers feel seen and heard as whole people by teachers, it makes a huge difference in their experience at school. In this episode, we hear from teens and educators from across the U.S. about how teachers can foster strong connections with teens and build the trust needed for authentic check ins. This Teenage Life is sponsored by the XQ Institute, the leading organization dedicated to rethinking the U.S. high school experience so that every student graduates ready to succeed in college, career, and life. If you’re a student who wishes to drive change in your high school community, check out XQ’s Youth Voice toolkit. It’s full of resources to develop, advocate, and execute a plan to improve your high school. Go to YouthVoice.xqsuperschool.org to learn more. Follow XQ America on TikTok and on Instagram to share your experience as a student and change what learning looks like. 

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This Teenage Life is a podcast made by teens about their ideas, stories, and unique perspectives in the middle of their own growth as humans. Please feel free to reach out to us at team@thisteenagelife.org, we love hearing from listeners.

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Grown-ups can often talk about teens and social media in a way that fails to capture real teens' experiences.The directors of the Center For Digital Thriving (CDT) are different — they get it. In this episode, TTL teens meet with CDT directors Emily and Carrie to discuss the mental gymnastics of navigating our relationships with tech and social media.    We hope this episode can inspire more conversations about teens and tech that are grounded in the experiences of teens themselves. For resources check out the Center for Digital Thriving resources page at: https://digitalthriving.gse.harvard.edu/resources/

Mental Gymnastics

In celebration of Earth Day, we made this episode about a person who, in the face of climate change, chose to take a risk and make something new.  In partnership with UNICEF USA, This Teenage Life teens speak with Alexia Akbay, founder of Symbrosia, a company that grows seaweed. When fed to cows, Symbrosia's product reduces cows' methane emissions.  To learn more about UNICEF's Innovation30 effort, supporting young climate innovators shaping the future, check out their website.

Youth Climate Innovation: Symbrosia

This past March, TTL celebrated its 5th birthday! In this episode, the teens share stories of how they joined TTL and what the community has meant for them. All our current participants used to be listeners. If you want to join us too—or reach out and request and episode topic or say hi—feel free to email us at team@thisteenagelife.org

5 Years of This Teenage Life!

How do we stay resilient in the face of procrastination shame and test anxiety? When our bodies are in fight and flight and our brains are not thinking straight, what should we do? In this episode, the teens teams up with Arizona State University professor Jamie Valderrama, who teaches various stress management courses, to learn about the neurophysiology of stress and techniques they can use to self-regulate and be resilient in the face of stress flare ups.  Thank you to Arizona State University's Learning Enterprise for sponsoring this episode! ASU Learning Enterprise’s Foundational Learning Health Literacy Project is empowering learners to actively manage their health and well-being through comprehensive and engaging, open access content that decreases informational gaps. Check out this link to learn more.       

Stress Management

In this episode, the teens discuss their experiences on group chats — sharing stories about social dynamics and feelings of inclusion and exclusion. This episode features the amazing work of Emily Weinstein and Carrie James at the Center for Digital Thriving (CDT). Their research inspired this episode. Learn abotu their work at:  Behind Their Screens, their amazing book CDT's website and  their resources on thinking traps. CDT's new app, which is great to do with family and friends to discuss tech use and values. 

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