Professionals and community members who working with young adults gathered to hear a seminar on “Understanding Adolescent Development.”

WARSAW — Lazy, poor work ethic, the worst, entitled and killing the world are just some of the words used today to describe the youth of today by older generations, but according to Rev. Dr. Marcus Carlson, Millennials are “the most creative” and “off the charts smart” generation to date, showing that with a little understanding one’s perspective on youth can change. Indiana Youth Institute, Youth Services Bureau and Early Childhood Alliance hosted Indiana’s Youth Institute hosted a “Understanding Adolescent Development” seminar Wednesday, Nov. 1.

While no generations are truly known for coexisting in perfect harmony, Carlson noted Millennials, defined by years 1982-2000, “to be the most misunderstood generation” despite being “more researched than the last four generations combined.” With Generation Z now coming to the age of adolescence, a lot remains unknown about the growing generation and begs the question of how to help adolescents develop in today’s world.

Carlson walked guests through the tiers of influence for adolescence, emphasizing parents to be “the most significant influence in a teen’s life.” He compared the tiers of influence to a wedding cake with parents being the base on which a teen’s influences grow and Invested and authentic adults “that want what is best for the child” as the second tier. The third tier consisted of non-invested and non-authentic adults. The final tier consists of peers, media environment and ecology. “If the bottom two are strong, the top two become irrelevant… You can’t supplement [parents]. You have to support them,” said Carlson about the importance of partnering with parents as a invested adult. Carlson went on to state every adolescent needs five influences on top of two healthy parents, stating “If you don’t have that, you will need more outside adults.”

Carlson went on to discuss the responses of parents and influential adults in an adolescent’s life. He walked through needing to allow adolescents “the opportunities to do things with supervision,” comparing parents to guard rails on a highway in the mountains as a source of protection not prevention of an accident. He emphasized the importance of telling adolescents of Generations Y and Z that “it’s not about their performance; it’s about their character,” referring to a post 9-11 anxiety for adolescents growing up in 1995 and after. Carlson noted “adolescents grow up in an anxious world where there are shootings at school, at church or at the movie theatre” as added anxiety to a high pressure and performance world.

Carlson wrapped up by noting that while Generation Y and Z are still developing, they “have the most potential of any generation” with a passion for missions. The importance of parents becoming cheerleaders who point the way but do not do it for themselves and focusing on character and value while seeking to build self worth in the youth of today is crucial. “It takes people with boots on the ground to change the systems,” said Carlson.