Teens are struggling. They don't have to.

Remember how hard it was to be a teen? It’s even harder today. We can do something about it.

Many of today’s teenagers are languishing - not necessarily in crisis but not flourishing either. This languishing often goes unnoticed because it’s undramatic - no holes in the wall or slamming of doors, no diagnosis or treatment, no sirens or convictions, no child services or restraining orders. Just everyday life not feeling right.

So...why the languishing?

Today’s Uncomfortable Truth >> We are not setting our kids up for success.

Our current education system was designed to produce productive, authority compliant, loyal to retirement workers. And for good reason. It needed to feed the economy of the Industrial Revolution.

Not surprisingly, it created a society that believed to the core that professional success brings happiness. What is the first thing we ask when we meet someone new… “So what do you do for a living?” Hence, parenting naturally developed to feed this system - for every parent wants their child to be happy and successful. Except right now, youth aren’t happy. The majority are languishing and it’s not a COVID thing. Kids are feeling lost and unprepared. Close to 70% of today’s teens are afraid for their future.

Why? Our educational and parenting conventions are out of date. Life has changed more in the past 30 years than in the past 300. We are setting our kids up to succeed in a world that no longer exists. They see it, they feel it, but they need our help to do something about it. “Most of the skills I’m learning now will be automated by the time I graduate.” states one Gr. 10 student, Toronto, Canada.“ "When was the last time you used memorization at work mom? Can’t remember? I thought so. So why is my school obsessed with it?” asks another student, Gr. 8, Toronto, Canada.

The Tomorrow Potential >> Happiness is living inside out

Empirical evidence is shining a spotlight on the fact that we got it wrong. Success doesn’t bring happiness. It’s the other way around. If you’re happy, if you enjoy your life and what you do with it, then you will be successful. "Do what you love and love what you do"... what if that is what we taught our kids at home and at school?

What if we created a youth program that leveraged all the knowledge and insight we are lucky enough to have today with advancements in science, humanities, art and business. It all says the same thing; that everything is energy - if you live your life by what energizes you, you can’t help but be happy. It’s not only philosophy, it’s science. Thanks Albert Einstein and many others.

The acadeME Bootcamp (2.5 hours a day Aug. 30th -Sept. 3rd) is the first offering from our new not-for-profit organization, InsideOut . It’s designed to help guide today’s youth towards developing ways of thinking, feeling and making decisions that will lead to a happier, more fulfilled life within today’s tech economy; fostering skills on the ‘inside of us’ like creativity, resilience, and agility, more so than skills on the ‘outside of us” like productivity and conformity which will no longer be useful with the rapid onset of automation, algorithms and AI.

We’ve gathered a diverse team of subject matter experts to create a simple 5-step framework that guides youth in figuring out important stuff like: who am I? what do I want to do with my life? what will make me happy? Warning: it guides them to not be like their parents… 85% of whom don’t like their jobs; 95% of whom are midway through life and still asking themselves the same questions. It struck us... we can get ahead of it for our kids.

The Ask of You >> What do we need funding for?

Over the summer, we’ve been prototyping the acadeME bootcamp with a handful of youth and now we need your help to make it available to many more - funding helps us keep out events accessible to all youth. We have an operating budget of $37,000 that as a new not-for-profit we don’t have the cash flow to cover - hard costs like tech platforms and soft costs like R&D. We would be grateful for any amount of financial support.

If financial support is not doable, supporting us and teens by spreading the word about this bootcamp would be much appreciated. We don’t have the kind of marketing budget it takes to be heard through all the noise out there. You can spread the word easily by:

• Sending an email out with our event website and press release
• Following and sharing from our Facebook , Instagram , Twitter, LinkedIn

A big thank you from us and today’s teens - our kids and your kids - for your support. When youth succeed, we all succeed.

Photo Credits : Mehrpouya H, Sam Balve, Naassom Azevedo & talented others on Unsplash and Pexels