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The largest website for English phrases and quotes

Category: Alexandra Robbins

Alexandra Robbins

Adults tell students that it gets better, that the world changes after school, that being ‘different’ will pay off sometime after graduation. But no one explains to them why.

School, Changes, World

Alexandra Robbins

Many of the differences that cause students to be excluded in school are actually the same qualities or skills that other people are going to admire, respect or value about that person in adulthood.

School, Value, People

Alexandra Robbins

Group membership can modify individuals’ perceptions of themselves. Unable to separate their personal introspection from the ways they believe other people perceive them, teenagers may have what psychologists call an “imaginary audience”, meaning that they believed that other people are just as attuned to their appearance and behavior as they are.

identity, perception, reputation

Alexandra Robbins

Sometimes Eli believed his mother was embarrassed by him. “I swear, my mom thinks if I do one thing differently than the average person, I’m weird,” Eli said later. “It’s like she thinks I’m a freak or something. No matter what I do, it’s not ‘normal’ enough for her.

discipleship, mentoring, parenting

Alexandra Robbins

My heart broke not only for the daughter who already was forced to become her mother’s alarmingly narrow ideal, but also for the middle daughter who knew that her in mother’s mind she had already failed.

acceptance, expectations, parenting

Alexandra Robbins

Too many parents fail to understand that there is a difference between fitting in and being liked, that there is a difference between being “normal” and being happy. High school is temporary. Family is not.

Alexandra Robbins

Imagine what it must be like for teenagers who don’t feel they have room to breathe in their own homes. If you are a parent reading this book, you care about your child. If she is quirky, unusual, or nonconformist, ask yourself whether you are doing everything you can to nurture her unusual interests, style, or skills, or whether instead you are directly or subtly pushing her to hide them.

discipleship, mentoring, parenting

Alexandra Robbins

If there is a single factor that spells out the difference between the cafeteria fringe headed for greatness and those doomed for low self-worth, even more than a caring teacher or a group of friends, it is supportive, accepting parents who not only love their children unconditionally, but also don’t make them feel as if their idiosyncrasies qualify as “conditions” in the first place.

acceptance, mentoring, parenting

Alexandra Robbins

How could he encapsulate in a pithy admissions-interview line all of his unique ideas and interests?

college, marketing, persuasion

Alexandra Robbins

The cafeteria made him feel like an observer rather than a participant in the high school experience.

influence, outsiders

Alexandra Robbins

Part of the problem is that people at our school don’t listen. They just put on the headphones and tune out the world. It’s intimidating.

isolation, making-friends, media

Alexandra Robbins

It was a relief to inhabit someone else’s life for a while, to get her personal issues for a brief respite. In a play, she knew exactly how all her character’s problems would be resolved. No matter how the cast performed, the end turned out the same. No questions, no worries, no unknowns.

acting, drama, extracurricular-activities, self-consciousness, shyness