The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens - Final Day

Motivational workshop for teens draws to a close

THE "7 habits of highly effective teens" workshop officially came to a close yesterday garnering a positive response from its young participants.

The youth enrichment programme based on the book by Sean Covey, held for three days, ended with 150 participants aged 11 to 19 years-old receiving certificates marking their completion of the internationally renowned programme.

In an interview with The Brunei Times, Salwa Ibrahim, 13, from Jerudong International School, said that the programme helped her a lot.

"It's very effective because it teaches you to be proactive, prioritising and let's you visualise what you want to do with your life," she said.

"In terms of being proactive, it has made me think about the decisions to make for the future, and helps you achieve your goals in a much more easier way."

She said that she would encourage her friends to go for this programme.

"The seven habits are very useful. I hope to use these habits even when I'm older, when I reach university and so on,"she said.

A former student of Nakhoda Ragam Vocational School, Nuramalina Hj Rafie, said that the course was a little confusing in the beginning but as the days went on she understood its effectiveness. "I'm still learning to conquer the habits but so far the programme has been quite good," she said.

She said that one of the favourite moments of this programme was "synergising".

"I like that this aspect emphasised a lot of teamwork. I will definitely take in what I learned through this programme and apply it when I start working one day,"she said.

Four students also went onstage to give a few words on how the programme has affected them.

One of them, Nick, thanked the facilitators and "strongly urges" his friends or the adults present to go for this course.

Another student, Aisyah, also urged her fellow peers to take part in the programme because it taught her how to have a goal.

In a closing speech,Managing Director of Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam Berhad (BIBD) Javed Ahmad lauded the programme.

"We do believe in the youth of our nation, being the future leaders. We want to make sure that they have confidence in facing the challenges years to come," he said.

He also thanked Universiti Brunei Darussalam(UBD), Advanced skills services and Leadership Resources from Malaysia for their support.

A group presentation from the participants in the workshop also took place. Each team performed skits that centred around the theme of the habits.

BIBD said teenagers who live out the habits will have the right skillsets and mindset that will successfully direct their lives into a path they choose to enable to decide what they want out of life based on their values and goals.

By Hana Roslan via The Brunei Times

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens - Day Two

Workshop promises to produce highly effective teens

TIME management is the "real value" of the "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" workshop, said one of the facilitators.

Saras Dorairaju (picture), during an interview with The Brunei Times, said that time management, which falls under "Habit Three", is a weakness that adults also face.

"We think it's fantastic for the kids because we give them a little planner they could use and from this planner they could see how much impact it would have on their life," said Saras who has been conducting the workshops for the past eight years.

The three-day workshop is similar to the adult version of the programme which has earned global recognition and derived from author Sean Covey who also wrote "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People".

"It's a world renowned programme and we do it now for teenagers. We teach them similar things we teach adults except we deliver it in such a way young people would find interesting and entertaining," she said.

Basically, the challenges are different, she said, adding that as an example, in "Habit Five" they would teach the teenagers listening skills.

They would also include a portion of how to talk to their parents, teachers or friends, and cue it to their lives so that it is something the teens would be able to apply and exactly how it would work in their own daily lives.

"Rather than just learning from theory, we would have games and activities that we may not do with adults," she said.

When asked about the examples and the success rates the programme yielded, Saras said that although the programme was not something they have done real research on, there was evidence of its impact.

"What we can tell you is the effect you'll see especially after the third day of the programme," she said adding that this can be seen at the end of the programme when participants present and talk about what they had learnt.

By Hana Roslan via The Brunei Times