Wisdom and Learning from Teen Leaders

2007-2008

Being new this year taught me confidence – how to lead and change the world. We do non-violent workshops and teach peacemaking skills and this has helped me to think before I act.

Leading activities, acting in skits, and being responsible for a whole section of a workshop has helped me break out of my shell and gain confidence in leading. Without this program, I might have never been taught Catholic values and principles, which I learned here. I really appreciate the House of Peace and everything we do here.

Being a teen leader has taught me that not only am I helping others or guiding others, but I am also helping myself. I get important lessons for the future.  A leader isn’t someone who just tells someone what to do, but also someone who listens and finds out what the problem is.

I always had many ideas that I wanted to share with others, but was always too scared to talk into a microphone.  Now I feel confident and I am truly able to share what I think with others. When I first entered the program, I didn’t know what to expect. I met people from different schools and was able to learn new ways to deal with problems and avoid violence.

I learned how to keep other youth focused by figuring out what style of teaching they respond to. I can use this skill and apply it to my life whenever I encounter the opportunity to communicate a concept to others.

I also learned about different religions and their style of worship. Now that I know how some other religions work, I won’t be so quick to make a judgmental statement or comment.

In our workshop for middle school youth, it is important that high school teens are the leaders because the participants will get more out of leadership skills when the teaching comes from teens close to their age.  Also, Interfaith Cafés are a great way to understand other religions and stop being so ignorant about the religious views of others.

A leader is someone responsible, respectful and trustworthy. A good role model that people can follow into the right direction.  The future of our world is in our hands and we are the future scientists, lawyers, and presidents. We should be good leaders so our world will be peaceful. 

I learned how to get a point across with just the use of memory and a minimum of note cards. I learned respectful ways of calming and quieting down an audience, in order for them to stay focused. I learned how to lead a group of people my same age or older, and get them to actually do what I needed them to do. Finally, I lost my terror of talking in front of an audience. At Pebbles of Peace, I spoke in front of more than 200 people!

Leadership has a lot to do with being a role model. Over the years, hundreds of youth have looked up to me as a role model. It made me want to make a difference and to teach others about peacemaking and how to solve a problem without fighting. But even holding posters can teach people timing and how to read body language. Being in skits made me more open to speaking in public and meeting new people.

Talking in front of large groups helped my public speaking skills and let me feel more comfortable getting up in front of others and getting my point across. Attending Interfaith Cafés, I learned more about different faiths and it made me more aware of different people’s opinions of my own faith.

I have led many ways over these three years. It has meant a lot to me to be learn how to lead a group, how to teach a concept, how to organize an activity. Leadership is an extremely important concept.  We have so many followers and so few leaders. Obviously that is not working… maybe a change of direction could help our world.

Leadership isn’t all about always being in charge, always having the idea. Being a leader means knowing when to step down for a second and let other people help you out. A leader is someone who you can look up to, someone who’s a real person and not an artificial being.

This program has done me a lot of good, when it comes to solving problems and letting them solve themselves, in a peaceful manner.

Leaders are a very significant part of our society. They influence every aspect of our lives.  The House of Peace gives us the chance to teach others the wisdom of how to peacefully resolve conflicts. This can bring about a much more peaceful society for future generations.