Why It’s Unfair to Say Teens Don’t Care About School

When your teenager says school is fine, or boring, or that they don’t see the point, you may think, “That’s normal” – right?

Same as when your curious, inquisitive, insatiable elementary schooler becomes disengaged – isn’t that just part of growing up? Isn’t it normal for teenagers to not be that engaged in their learning?

Actually, no.

Apathetic teenagers have long been the butt of many jokes (seriously, even Aristotle talked about how annoying they are). But maybe we’re the ones missing something.

Teenagers annoy adults not because they don’t care, but because they do. They say the things many of us wish we could say but don’t. They’re willing to challenge the status quo and speak their mind about injustices. They won’t put up with things just because that’s the way they’ve always been. And they certainly won’t put up with boring.

Those things that look like disengagement are actually clues that teenagers want to engage in their learning — but they want it to be meaningful and relevant.

Their brains are at a pivotal point of development where they’re making rapid connections, pruning away what they don’t need, and forging important social connections. They’re primed to engage deeply in issues they care about – and engage alongside other people to do the important work we need to have better lives.

But when the school environment doesn’t match that energy and when what they’re learning feels irrelevant, uninspiring, and disconnected from their lives, teens check out. This can lead to teenagers entering what Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop call “Passenger Mode”: they’re doing enough to get by, but not much more. They’re missing out on what this time as a teenager is all about: exploring who they are, learning about the world around them, and discovering the unique contributions they will make to their community.

In their book, The Disengaged Teen, Winthrop and Anderson share that only about one in three students in the US are highly engaged in their schoolwork, and by the time they are seniors in high school, fewer than 30% of them report loving school. 

And they explain how engagement isn’t just an emotional issue. It’s absolutely essential, leading to outcomes like better test scores, graduation rates, grades, college attendance and persistence, and mental health.

Engagement is a core part of why our students at Empower are so successful – not just in their grades, but in reorienting to their identities as learners who are excited to have an impact on the world. Our conversations inspire them to dig more deeply into their studies and into who they are and what they love to do – the foundations of a flourishing and meaningful life. We truly help them reengage and reimagine themselves as learners. As people who are capable of making a difference.

Our teens have:

• started and led clubs on topics from marine biology to affinity spaces
• gone from failing to making straight As in math
• advocated for their needs in a 504 meeting to get accommodations for their disability
• won community art grants
• achieved Eagle Scout status
• started small businesses
• helped younger students learn to read
• written fantasy novels

…and so much more – all with a high level of engagement and an attunement to what the community around them needs from them.

The next time you think a teen doesn’t care, ask them what they’re angry about. Ask them what isn’t fair.

Often that can be the spark to figuring out what they do care about – and what they intend to do about it.

When students disengage, it’s often a result of feeling like their voice doesn’t matter. Show them that it does. Explore their interests, provide opportunities for them to get connected in their community, and truly listen to what they have to say; they give us so many clues.

And if they need help getting re-engaged in school, we’d love to help.