(Applause)
Hello, everyone.
As previously mentioned, I'm Andrew Pendergast,
as you've probably already guessed.
Today I'm going to be talking with you about something
that potentially concerns a large number of you in this room today,
and from what I've gathered from conversations and observations,
the remainder of the world:
Responsibility, particularly in adolescents.
Alright, we're going to be doing some crowd participation here.
So, raise your hand if you believe that you're a responsible individual.
Alright, now keep your hand up if you're an adolescent.
Alright, you can put your hands down.
Now, put your hands up
if you believe that, generally, adolescents as a whole are responsible.
(Laughter)
That's what I thought.
We'll see if that changes at all over the course of this talk
as we delve further into the necessity of adolescent responsibility,
and how we can take steps towards that.
Now, responsibility is defined as, one, the state or fact of being responsible.
Don't you just love how our dictionary works?
Two, an instance of being responsible.
Three, a particular burden of obligation upon one who is responsible.
Four, something for which one is responsible for.
And five, reliability or dependability.
Now, essentially all these definitions can be condensed into two basic meanings:
firstly, being accountable for something that one has been given league of,
and secondly, being reliable or dependable.
Generally, society accepts the first definition of responsible:
answerable or accountable for something within one's power or control.
Seeing as this is the definition
that we as a society have chosen to define responsible,
this shall be the definition I will be using for the remainder of this talk.
So, let's get started.
Is responsibility a truly universal concept?
Now, one would believe that accountability was necessary
in the first civilizations for them to grow.
If somebody didn't do what they were supposed to do,
how in the world could the society advance?
As children aged into adolescence, they were given a real responsibility
in their community that would aid in the development of said community.
This taught them both, how they were to be responsible by their elders,
and gave them a more concrete understanding
of the concept of responsibility.
Now, before we dig into how we can actually get to a point
where we have entirely responsible adolescents,
I've noticed that society generally has come to the conclusion
that there's a possible option for a failure of a responsibility.
I think we need to clear that up.
Going by the definition of responsible, which is being answerable or accountable
for something within one's power of control.
If somebody's given a job and that job is a success,
sure, plain and simple, they've completed their responsibility.
Now, let's say that job's a failure.
As long as they're being held accountable for it,
they're still being responsible.
I've noticed how society has generally thrown this to the wayside,
so I'd like you to keep that in mind for the remainder of this talk,
and when you go back out into your daily lives.
Now, responsibility takes many different forms for each person.
Obviously the responsibilities of a student and of a worker
are going to vary greatly.
However, the key concepts that underlie responsibility
are common for each person:
trust, expectation, and comprehension.
So, we've defined the necessary aspects for responsibility to exist and flourish
for both, adolescents and adults.
As previously stated, there's the trust
that one will uphold the aspect of the agreement that applies to them.
Expectation for those given responsibility is to be held accountable,
and comprehension of the situation and elements involved.
As responsibility is built on the contract that one will be held accountable,
the trust that one person will uphold their portion of the agreement
is the epitome of the social phenomena called responsibility.
Now, for responsibility to really exist,
there must be an expectation for the one given a responsibility
to be held accountable for what they have been requested to do.
One major aspect of this is that consequences must be present
for expectations to truly hold any meaning,
and therefore, for responsibilities to be upheld.
Lastly, a comprehension of both,
what the expectations of the one who is given the responsibility are
and the trust that exists
between those in the social contract of responsibility must be present.
These three key aspects for responsibility to exist
must be kept in mind, particularly as I dissect
the needs of the adolescents in order for us to develop
into the fully responsible members of society
that we are growing up to be.
Now, adolescents require certain stimuli from society
in order to assist in the development of responsibility
through the entirety of brain development.
For instance, as previously mentioned,
as adolescents begin to develop their prefrontal cortex,
wherein lies the capacity of decision-making,
they strive for an increased amount of responsibility
so that they can fill their brain
with the complete understanding of responsibility,
giving them a more dynamic view of this newly formed concept.
This can be observed, as I'm sure you've all noticed,
as early adolescents wish for increased amounts of freedom
in return for the responsibility
that they will be held accountable for their actions.
And if an adolescent wishes not to be held accountable for what they do,
they simply have that freedom removed.
That's where the consequences come in.
This prepares the very foundation
for the successful implementation of responsibility
into young adolescent life.
In addition to the increased amount of freedom and consequences
that adolescents must be given to nurture responsible members of society,
these adolescents, in order to form a strong basis for responsibility,
must be given a meaningful position in society.
This results in not only the creation of the sense of community involvement
that is an apparent necessity in the development of an adolescent mind,
but also offers the adolescent a better vantage point
from which they can understand responsibility
and how it plays into everyday life.
Overall, although these examples do not entirely complete
the needs of adolescents, this essentially condenses the list
into three specific elements that can be internally separated
in order to allow for a more complete understanding of these needs.
Once again, these are trust, expectations, and comprehension.
Now, early adolescence is a particularly crucial period
in the development of autonomy, including responsibility and self-control,
As seen in a study done in Michigan in 1987
with 174 adolescents and their guardians,
the development of responsibility in the tested adolescents
was directly correlated between gender and parental employment status.
This study demonstrated that in families with one parent who was not employed,
the adolescents had a tendency to be more responsible.
This concludes that the concept of responsibility
is taught from elders of society, as I previously hypothesized.
This experiment also discovered that females of early adolescence
generally were more responsible than their male counterparts.
This can be attributed to the fact
that the female brain develops slightly early in adolescence--
slightly earlier in adolescence than males,
and thus, the sections of the brain
that are involved in the development of a sense of responsibility
are more complete than those with males.
As responsibility in adolescence has been partially defined
through the scientific aspect of the concept,
the quintessential component of the development
of adolescent responsibility is the adolescent itself.
As the adolescent grows, they will begin to crave responsibility.
But what can adolescents really be responsible for?
Now, I can imagine that in all of your lives
you have things for which you were responsible,
namely, your family, your job, and yourself.
Those are the aspects of society
that a full-grown member can truly be responsible for.
Now, adolescents are responsible for themselves.
That's just the biological imperative,
that one will live as long as one can
so that one can pass on their genetic makeup
and influence society as they see fit.
You may notice that a good portion of adolescents do not have jobs.
Now, seemingly,
that would take the second point of responsibility in society go to moot.
Education replaces the responsibility of having a job
and must be treated the same way as if you had a job.
The family unit and the social unit are where the responsibilities
of an adolescent and an adult differs greatly.
The responsibilities of an adult in social situations is simple:
Be aware of those around you and influence them as you see fit.
Similarly, the social responsibilities of adolescents
revolve around the caring for those around you
and influencing them in the way that you view to be correct.
However, this responsibility in adolescents
has much more impact as the development of self-identification
is most prominent during this stage of development.
Now, for an adult, the responsibilities of a family is also simple:
Keep those whom you love and/or share your genetic makeup
safe from harm, and teach them to be self-reliant.
Now, this is where it really begins to differ.
For an adolescent, their responsibility in the family unit
is to learn from their parents
and assist those around them to do the same.
At face value, this may seem as though
there's very little difference in the responsibility of the adult
and of the adolescent in the family unit.
However, as the adult is responsible for other people,
the adolescent is dependent upon other people.
Yes, the adolescent is responsible for him or herself,
but he or she is also cared for by another being,
being taught responsibility in the process.
This is the sole reason
that adolescents are able to develop into responsible members of society.
The differentiation between adult and adolescent responsibilities
in the family unit, at the very essence of it,
allows for responsibility in society to exist.
This allows for the nurturing of responsibility
through the ageless relationship of master and apprentice.
As an adult teaches an adolescent the concepts of responsibility,
the adolescent develops a better understanding
of said concept, and in turn, reaches for more.
This allows for a continuous development of responsible adults
through the teaching of adolescents.
Specifically, the nurturing of responsibility in adolescents
requires certain elements:
the constant teaching and reminding of the concept of responsibility
through both, action and discussion.
Two, the increase in responsibilities in the life of the adolescent,
as they develop a concrete understanding of responsibility
and acquire the necessary elements
to obtain more responsibility in their lives,
and the cooperation of both, adolescent and adult,
resulting in the mutual comprehension
of the necessity of the teaching of responsibility
to adolescents for society as a whole.
Through the simple adhesion to these necessary aspects
for the development of responsibility in adolescents,
the development of a sense of responsibility in the next generation
and in every generation thereafter will be improved,
resulting in the allowance for societal growth.
Now, let's focus on the second aspect
necessary for the development of responsibility in adolescents:
the increase in responsibility given to adolescents
as they continue to acquire more knowledge pertaining to responsibility.
We're able to specifically locate examples for each and every adolescent
in their life through which they can be responsible for.
I, for instance, enjoy the responsibility of getting my school work done,
keeping myself healthy,
and insuring that I am performing to the best of my abilities
in each endeavor that I perform.
This doesn't paint a mold for each adolescent in society,
and to locate the exact instances, listen to this.
It takes time, patience, and experimentation with the results
of different responsibilities and the outcomes thereof.
Stemming directly from that, both adolescents and society
need to partake an active role
in the development of responsible adolescents.
Society needs to abide by these necessary elements
for responsibility to grow and be present in the journey of responsibility
for each and every adolescent in society.
Adolescents need to be aware of this assistance
that they're being offered, and take advantage of such assistance
in order to develop an increased sense of responsibility
that they will pass on to the next generation.
Adolescents also need to attempt
to increase their own levels of responsibilities
within their family units and their social groups,
allowing for a dynamic growth of responsibility.
I believe that each member of society has an important role
in the development of responsible adolescents,
and though there is a large amount of work to be done,
the development of responsibility in adolescents
is a necessary and obtainable aspect of society.
Though you may view us now as a shadow of today,
tomorrow we will be the light of the future.
Thank you.
(Applause)