Talking to 9th Graders

I had a wonderful opportunity to talk to 9th Graders at the local high school as part of a career day they were holding. It was really a fun time. There were five sessions and each lasted about 35 minutes. Each session was about 20-30 kids who came in with various levels of interest. Here are a couple of things I learned:

– They were very interested in money issues. How much do you make, how big is your house, and how expensive is school were the type of issues that came up with each group. It was career day, so that made sense as a focus.

– They seemed to like stories about different cases or topics of the day. So it was real world examples that seemed to get to the listeners. I talked about a recent lawsuit that we had started and that lead to questions about why I sued that defendant, what did it mean to sue , and what were the damages.

– They all had cellphones. So information about Twitter, Facebook, and the internet were topics that I had no idea I would ever be talking about when I was their age.

– They did seem to react to the topic each time I mentioned the dangers of texting and driving. They will be the group who will have to make sure that they understand the dangers. They all have accepted seat belts since they were first strapped in as babies. So it will be the attitude that they bring to their driving.

Join the Fast Lane to Stop Distracted Driving, Mark Bello | April 08, 2013 1:37 PM

– Finally, after a few sessions the paralegal I brought along started to add what her job was. It was interesting to see that they seem to relate to her job so well. She is younger, and has a job that involves less school, so maybe it seemed like a more reachable goal.

I appreciated the opportunity and hope I helped at least a couple of them.