I write this post from a place of authority – I was once a teenage boy. I remember quite clearly that my backpack was a perpetual disaster area. My binders, no matter how hard I tried, could never seem to stay…well…bound. I wrote homework assignments everywhere except my planner. I made poor judgments about whether to spend time chatting on instant messenger or doing my homework. The list goes on and on…

Having worked with many teenage boys, and judging by my own experience, this is sometimes an unavoidable problem. It’s not permanent – most people grow out of it. I did about three years into my time at Harvard, and really shed the bad habits when I had to start running a business. But, for some reason, it can often be absolutely unavoidable for the teenage years. Maybe it’s the wiring, or the hormones. Whatever the cause, teenage male disorganization can be academically debilitating.

What’s the solution? Yelling? Screaming? 3-Hole Punching? These all work occasionally, but the best solution I’ve found is tutoring.  Having a once-a-week homework-help check-in with an experienced tutor gives students someone to lean on for help. Simple activities like weekly binder cleanups, planning in advance for homework and larger projects, and discussing and implementing simple time management techniques can work miracles. Often students have no one with whom to discuss these sorts of things: peers are equally inept, teachers only care about their class and are strapped for time, parents are too embroiled.

It is perhaps even more important that students have someone safe to whom they can be held accountable.  The relationship that forms between a good tutor and student is safe from the threatening, grade-bestowing teacher, the hyper-involved parent, and the judgement of peers. It’s a haven where the student can open up, ask for academic advice, be themselves, and also learn to look up to someone for their intellect and academic excellence. In this haven, tutors can inspire and motivate teenage boys, or any student for that matter, to try just a bit harder to keep everything together.

At Veritas we have seen a number of students who benefit from organizational help. And often just a bit goes a long way. Also, we have seen a strong trend toward independence with these students as well. The tutoring serves as training wheels of sorts for students to learn how to manage their own work in a stressful, demanding environment. Tutoring, in this case, is akin to training wheels on a bike. Once a student masters their organizational and time management skills, they no longer need the tutoring and are far better prepared for success as they move forward in their academic careers.