Christian and his team of 40 members are heading the Finnish NGO “Aseman Lapset” or “Children of the Station”. The association's purpose is to promote young people's healthy upbringing and prevent marginalization, violence, crime, and substance abuse.
One can imagine that Christian has seen a lot during his career but thankfully he is willing to lift the lid for us and share a couple of thoughts on how we can establish a personal and functional dialogue between adults and young people.
The Top 5 key takeaways from his story:
- Ask your kids “How do you do” and listen ACTIVELY. Try to understand what they go through. Try to communicate. Try to be interested (genuinely) in what your kid is doing. Be interested in his/her friends.
- “Management by Perkele” does not go down well with Millennials and Generation Z.
- A person who is angry and does stupid things is usually a person who is unhappy about something.
- Advice for Teenagers: You don´t have to try and test everything at a too early age. A good reminder: the brain is not fully developed before the age of 25. So if you use substances, be aware that your brain gets much more damaged when you are young.
- Advice Christian´s 15-year-old self: if you want to achieve something you need to put the hours in. Nothing comes for free.
Books to read:
Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage
Ways to connect:
https://www.asemanlapset.fi/