Teen Activities 
Finding it different to engage your Little these days?  Check out these fun teen-specific activities!  

Teen Development
As your Little matures, it can be helpful to know what your Little needs to best express themselves and feel safe to practice Positive Youth Development (PYD) skills in your match. Explore information about youth development by age here. 

Teen Education Resources 
Explore our post-secondary resources here!   

Supporting Teens Who are Dropping out of School  
A Little may decide to drop out of high school for a number of reasons, these may or may not be academic. A survey from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation found the following reasons to be most common:

  • Not feeling supported, challenged, or motivated
  • Not being able to keep up with schoolwork, especially after missing several days of classes
  • Having to find a job in order to help out a single parent or younger siblings
  • Having to care for a family member who is sick or disabled
  • Becoming a parent
  • Experiencing a lot of social anxiety
  • Feeling disrespected
  • Feeling a strong need for more adventure
  • Believing that time would be better spent doing other thing

COVID has put many teens in these plus more complicated situations. Some teens found a job out of necessity and realized they prefer making money to going to school, others did not have access to online learning due to lack of internet or a device and now find the prospect of catching up to be daunting.

  1. Speak with your Match Support Coordinator about how to support your Little and the role of a Big.
  2. Rise Out provides classes and consulting to teens who have decided to leave traditional school.  http://www.rise-out.com/
  3. Explore option of HiSET/GED. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (High School Equivalency Office) is responsible for high school equivalency testing.
  • Minimum Age for GED or HiSET Testing is 18 years old
  • 16 or 17-year-olds may also qualify if they present an official Letter of Withdrawal from the last school they attended that was approved by the Massachusetts High School Equivalency Office. This document must include the last date of school attendance and date of withdrawal, and be issued and signed by the school’s Principal/Headmaster/Head of Guidance.
  • For more details about requirements check out GED.com  

TEEN RESOURCES