MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Station teenagers, ages 13 to 15 years old, met and discussed social and teenage issues at the Seven Habits for Highly Effective Teens workshop here, Tuesday.
The workshop is inspired by the national bestselling book of the same name, and has been customized to suit the needs of the military teenager.
Station children deal with an array of problems; problems that come in the territory of adolescence.
"The children here have a lot on their shoulders," said Jackie Allen, Innovation and Improvement Office quality instructor. "One thing is they are Americans living in Japan and in such a confined space."
"The teenagers here live somewhat of a sheltered life. On top of that they deal with the same problems like any other teenager. Problems ranging from peer pressure to self-discovery, the class touches on such issues and tries to find alternatives for each child," said D.J. Duarte, Innovation and Improvement Office quality instructor.
"This is our second time this year giving a class like this, but people that have taken our other courses (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) in the past have told us the class helped them so much and they saw results.
"Some of the same people who took the adult class wanted their children to take the teenagers version," said Allen.
The classes are usually divided into four-day seminars, but the teenagers' class was all in one day.
According to the workshop, the seven habits of highly effective teens are: "1) Be Proactive. Take responsibility for your life. 2) Begin with the End in Mind Define your mission and goals in life. 3) Put First Things First. Prioritize, and do the most important things first. 4) Think Win-Win. Have an everyone-can-win attitude. 5) Seek First to Understand, Then to be understood. Listen to people sincerely. 6) Synergize. Work together to achieve more. 7) Sharpen the Saw. Renew yourself regularly."
"These may seem to be simple habits, but in order to fully understand them, teenagers must know the opposites of them. Once they do, they will see how powerful the habits can be," said Allen.
For more information regarding the Seven Habits of Highly Effective workshop, contact 253-4719.