Enhancing the spiritual development of adolescent girls

Professional School Counseling, June, 2004 by Mary Alice Bruce, Debbie Cockreham

Spirituality is an important force during a period when institutional religion seems to be losing its hold on adolescents. To enhance the spiritual development of adolescent girls in the school setting, the group experience described addresses authentic identity, relationships and boundaries, managing pain experienced in life, and discovering and utilizing unique gifts.

"Everywhere we look, children are under assault from violence and neglect; from the breakup of families; from the temptations of alcohol, tobacco, sex, and drug abuse; from greed, materialism, and spiritual emptiness. These problems are not new, but in our time they have sky-rocketed" (Whitman & Chetwynd, 1997, p. 24). In many ways, today's teens are presented with a less stable environment than was experienced a decade or two ago. High divorce rates, high adolescent pregnancy rates, and increased geographic mobility of families contribute to this lack of stability (Santrock, 2001). Statistics related to teenage crime, violence, drug abuse, and suicide in our country indicate that youth are struggling to make meaning of their lives (Miller, 2002). Adolescent girls, in particular, seem to wrestle with many more issues than girls did 30 years ago (Pipher, 1994).

YEARNING FOR MEANING

Pipher (1994, 2003) acknowledged that adolescence has always been hard, hut believes that in today's dangerous, sexualized, and media-saturated United States society adolescent girls face incredible pressures to be beautiful and sophisticated. She asserted the most important questions for every adolescent girl to answer are "Who am I?" and "What do I want?" rather than, "What must I do to please others?" Pipher (1944) continued by stating "adolescence is when gifts experience social pressure to put aside their authentic selves and display a small portion of their gifts" (p. 22). Girls who stay true to themselves manage to find some way to respect the parts of them that are spiritual and protect their spirit from the forces that would break it. Can the female adolescent look within to find a core of true self, acknowledge unique gifts, accept her feelings, and make firm decisions about values, meaning, and spirituality?

Benner (1989) described spirituality as a deep and mysterious human yearning for self-transcendence and surrender, a yearning to find meaning and a place in the world. Legere (1984) differentiated spirituality from religion by stating that spirituality focuses on what happens in the heart, while religion tries to codify and capture the experience in a system. Personal religion or spirituality remains an important three in a period when institutional religion is losing its hold on adolescents' interest and participation (Whitman & Chetwynd, 1997).

Helping adolescent gifts find and make meaning in their lives and encouraging gifts to know themselves can help them access the spiritual dimension in their lives (Parsley, 1992). According to Kessler (2002), many of today's teenagers in the United States suffer from a sense of emptiness inside, a sense of meaninglessness that comes when social and religious traditions no longer provide a sense of meaning, continuity, or participation in a larger whole. Her opinion is that teenagers experience a void of spiritual guidance and opportunity in their lives during adolescence. This void contributes to high-risk behaviors, which can be both a search for connection, transcendence, meaning, and initiation as well as an escape from the pain of not having a genuine source of spiritual fulfillment and meaning.

THE SCHOOL COUNSELOR'S RESPONSE TO STUDENTS' SEARCH FOR MEANING

Beginning in the late 1960s, there were movements within the field of education that addressed the experience of living a life of authenticity and meaning. These movements included values clarification and character education (Miller, 2002). However, public schools, once an authority, in the delivery of widely accepted values, were largely silenced by the Supreme Court rulings that put a chill on the teaching of values that could be viewed as religious. However, academic performance itself as well as self esteem, character, and human relationships suffer when the education of the whole person is neglected (Kessler, 2002). A growing number of leading educators (Bottery, 2002; Goodlad, 2000; Noddings, 1995; Palmer, 1998) have recognized that the pursuit of an exclusively academic education leaves students ill-prepared for future challenges both as individuals and as members of society. As a result, spiritual and moral development is now specifically part of the United Kingdom's government education policy and curriculum (Bottery). In addition, educators in the United States have begun to acknowledge the necessity of spirituality in education (Kessler, 2000, 2002; Lantieri, 2001; Miller, 2002).

As violence in schools and around the world continues, questions are being raised about the ethical and spiritual climate of our youth (Knickerbocker, 1999). Because of the division of church and state, spirituality, and moral guidance have been largely absent from the schools over the past several decades. However, as an increasing number of educators and parents in the United States are now realizing, this may have been a mistake. Educators have begun to search for effective ways to provide care, joy, and interconnectedness for their disoriented students (Kessler, 2000; Miller, 2002). Thus, school counselors have a major challenge before them as they collaborate with school staff to address spiritual dimensions and enhance adolescents' optimal development (Miller).