I'd have started with not engaging with teenagers as if they're adults, taking cues from the group as to where they were at emotionally and intellectually, and listened more than spoke.
If you run through a field of land mines, you can't get mad when your legs get blown off.
Ah yes, the teacher who only listens to their students' feelings. The greatest wisdom of all comes from letting a bunch of kids steamroll you.
> If you run through a field of land mines, you can't get mad when your legs get blown off.
This is the issue. What teenagers think about someone should not be a field of landmines. Teenagers are constantly whiplashed by emotion, easily offended, self-important, and constantly trying to impress and one-up each other.
The last thing we need to do with teenagers is shut up and let them speak. Yet now we've given a handful of them the power to fire someone based on their feelings. What message does this send?
> This is the issue. What teenagers think about someone should not be a field of landmines. Teenagers are constantly whiplashed by emotion, easily offended, self-important, and constantly trying to impress and one-up each other.
I've done a lot of teenagering, enough to know that I'm glad people were there to challenge my emotionally-driven beliefs and not cave to my every whim.
