MANILA, Philippines—The drama that is high school has its own place in the canons of pop culture. The politics between the nerdy wallflowers and the popular kids, with terror teachers added into the mix, is always a good source of stories.
The popularity of light and breezy high school-themed films notwithstanding, high school remains a real emotional and psychological battlefield for most adolescents.
Sean Covey knows this all too well, as evidenced by the books he has written, foremost of them “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens,” a take-off from his father Stephen Covey’s international bestseller “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”
His other books, “The 6 Most Important Decisions You’ll Ever Make” and “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids” likewise address young readers.
An unlikely rock star
Covey was in town last week for the “It’s Your Choice! Teen Chat with Sean Covey” forum, which was held on the first day at the Henry Lee Irwin Theater in the Ateneo de Manila University and, on the second, at the Every Nation Leadership Institute at The Fort Global City in Taguig City.
The forum was co-presented by the Ateneo de Manila University, Reedley International School, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).
Covey is happy to help teens navigate through life with positive principles guiding them, and to see schools all over the world implementing the principles of “ The 7 Habits” among school children.
"I don’t want to take credit for the changes that kids have made in their lives, because the seven habits are really basic principles,” he said. “They can be applied even to the little things in daily life, such as organizing what you need to do, which is ‘Put first things first.’”
He also recognized the help he got from young people while he was still writing his bestselling book.
“I involved about a hundred kids in it,” he said. “I invited them over for pizza and showed them what I wrote, and they would tell me, ‘Sean, I like this story,’ or ‘This sucks, change it.’ Their feedback was important in helping me write the stories that have affected other young people around the world. There are stories for kids who come from good homes, kids who grew up without a family, kids living in Communist countries… there are stories for every kid.”
During the forum at the Ateneo, Covey cut an unlikely rock star figure, with droves of young students lining up for his autograph after the program. Delegates from schools as far as Davao came to attend the talk and to ask questions from the guy who seems to understand well the hang-ups of the young.
A self-confessed retired kid, Covey explained why he thought his book was a tremendous hit with the kids: “Teens all over the world have the same problems. I read my father’s book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ when I was already 21 years old, and I thought that what he wrote could also be applied to younger people. Basically, I just made “The 7 Habits” easier to read for them.”
While the two-hour forum was too short for Covey to give his usual talk, he managed to impart life lessons disguised as funny anecdotes and through short but amusing film clips.
True north
At one point, the author asked the audience to point where they think is the north. With the kids pointing in every direction, Covey took out a compass to give everyone the right answer.
“Wherever you are in life, even if you drop your compass,” he stated as he let go of his compass for a second, “as long as you have your principles or the so-called true north, you won’t be lost.”
Teaching basic principles on building relationships, meeting life challenges, and improving oneself, “The 7 Habits” is a big hit among teenagers all over the world. The book has sold more than 3 million copies and has been translated into over 20 languages in 120 countries.
“We know that these habits are effective,” says Genina Gonzales, Life Skills coordinator at Reedley International School. “So we teach these habits to students from the start to help them become ideal students not just academically, but emotionally, socially and psychologically as well.”
More than just the usual classes on good manners and right conduct, Reedley subscribes to Covey’s “The 7 Habits” as the core of its Life Skills program.
No wonder Reedley students were in full attendance at the Covey forum.
Are the seven habits the same for teenagers as for adults? Yes, of course, said Covey, only the situations and issues are different. Instead of the workplace, the settings for teens is the school.
