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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens

A Fifteen Minute Consultation

Preventing Youth Suicide through Community Adhesion

Last Modified 1/4/99

Book Review
By Sean Covey, Franklin Covey Co, 1998. US $14.00
GPs and other helping professionals are often confronted by parents who have concerns about their teenage children. Many parents worry about the way their teenagers are coping with life and the pitfalls they might face in the future.

Sean Covey, son of the well-known author and motivator Stephen Covey, has taken the principles from his fatherís book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and applied them to many of the issues encountered by teenagers.

This book attempts to impart a particular philosophy of life that sees the individual as the agent in his or her life. It deals with some of the hard questions young people face and gives them strategies for shaping their lives. It encourages young people to think about what they would like their lives to be like and then take the steps necessary to get there. It also offers reassurance to young people who may be experiencing the upheavals that often accompany adolescence, including how to cope with fears and peer pressure.

The format of the book will appeal to young people, with lots of graphics, cartoons, catchy quotations and interesting lists. Covey also tells stories of people who have had to deal with challenges and describes how they have overcome obstacles or dealt with lifeís difficulties. While the format allows the reader to browse through the contents, there are little motivators to keep the reluctant teenage reader engaged, such as this: ìComing attraction. If you keep reading, youíll discover the real reason why Michelle Pfeiffer looks like a million bucks. Just a few more pages and youíre done!î

Covey also understands the sometimes self-absorbed nature of adolescents and he has included activities designed to help young people apply what they have just read to their own life stories.

Coveyís book seeks to empower young people and inform them that they have a choice about the way they behave. He explains that they have at least four resources inside them that can help them shape their lives. These tools are self-awareness, conscience, imagination and willpower. By harnessing these tools, teenagers can make life more fulfilling and enjoyable for both themselves and those around them

One of the central tenets in this book is that there are two types of people in the world - the proactive and the reactive, those who take responsibility for their lives and those who blame, those who make it happen and those who get happened to. Covey points out that while we canít control everything that happens in life, we do have one thing we can control: how we respond to what happens to us.

He encourages young people to stop worrying about the things they cannot control while concentrating on the things that they can control.

Some readers may find the flavour of the text and some of the stories very American, however many of the points Covey makes are valid in an Australian context. Coveyís advice is practical, if sometimes a little obvious. It is presented in a form easily digested by young people. Older readers may also gain some insight into the concerns of adolescents and how best to address these.

Michael Hawton Counselling Psychologist