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Angie Mc
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| Posted: Oct 16 2007 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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How do you encourage courage in your teen?...through academics and extra-curricular?...for young ladies and gentlemen?...for the introvert and the extrovert? How do you share your courage with your teen? What does courage look like for a homeschooled teen?
A few of my thoughts recently...
Being a Catholic Christian takes courage.
Becoming a young adult takes courage.
Standing up for your values takes courage.
Opportunities arise that demand courage.
Traditional schools may offer opportunities to be courageous (standing up to a bully, to an improper teacher, to a poor school policy.) Can opportunities to be courageous be initiated within a family to practice courage?
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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Angie Mc
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Courage: Virtue of bravery in facing difficulties, especially in overcoming the fear of consequences in doing good. As moral courage, it enables a person to pursue a course deemed right, through which one may incur contempt, disapproval, or opprobrium. As physical courage, it is simply bodily or emotional strength to withstand opposition. It differs from fortitude in being more aggressive in undertaking, whereas fortitude is more patient in undergoing what is virtuous but hard.
Source: Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J.
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Angie Mc
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Leonie
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I think courage can be built by positively encouraging strength - pushing onself a bit. It takes strength to be courageous.
Just this morning, my 14 yo was talking about maths - in a negative way, yet again.  I reminded him that it's good for his brain, i'ts good for his will , to realize that maths is a must for his goals and to to suck it up and just do it.  It builds strength of character, which I think helps with being courageous further along the track.
I also find that opportunities to be courageous arise naturally in life, over time - when all the saints stories we have read, all the discussions after books and movies that we have had, all the character building over time, will be put to the test ( so to speak) - when a Catholic teen will have to be courageous. It may be at youth group, during volunteer and part time work, with non Catholic friends and relatives....I've seen situations arise when my kids have had to courageously be different or speak up and so on...
Not sure if this is what you are thinking.
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Angie Mc
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Leonie wrote:
Just this morning, my 14 yo was talking about maths - in a negative way, yet again. I reminded him that it's good for his brain, i'ts good for his will , to realize that maths is a must for his goals and to to suck it up and just do it. It builds strength of character, which I think helps with being courageous further along the track.
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This sounds familiar  .
It's funny...I asked my 12yo ds when he has needed to be most courageous and he said when he plays baseball. I asked my 8yo ds the same question and he said when he broke his nose  . Sometimes we can place ourselves in a position to be courageous and sometimes opportunity finds us.
I agree, courage comes from strength. The parallel is that it can come from facing a weakness and/or fear and conquering it. When opportunities to be courageous begin to come more steadily into adulthood, and they are handled, then confidence grows in our ability to handle further challenges.
As I think about my teen dd, I see that her main avenue to practice courage right now is through her academics. This is really new for our family. Any tips on being courageous in academics...which is a little different from showing fortitude...hmmm
brainstorming here...
Public speaking?
Submitting work that you feel weak in to someone whose opinion matters to you (ex: submitting writing to a writer?)
Teaching what you have learned to someone else?
Group/peer work on weak subjects?
Entering contests?
When I think about how I gained courage as a young person, I'm sad to say that many of the opportunities were simply reactions to yucky stuff. My dd just doesn't face much yucky stuff which has been a blessing and...now feels like it's own challenge...weird .
Thanks, Leonie.
Love,
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Angie Mc
Maimeo to Henry! Dave's wife, mom to Mrs. Devin+Michael Pope, Aiden 20,Ian 17,John Paul 11,Catherine (heaven 6/07)
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: encouraging courage
