Member Article

Perfect Teens Do Not Exist Claims Youth Coach and Mentor

Following recent news that over 20% of the UK’s underage teenagers drink, smoke and have tried drugs, one man has launched a campaign to support, nurture and help young adults across the whole of the UK.

The financial crime analyst who specialises in youth coaching and mentoring is on a path to help teenagers cope with modern society, with the aim of reducing crime, stopping wasted talent and improving the future of the UK economy.

Succinctly wrapped up in his newly released book, Perfect Teens Do (Not) Exist, Gbenga Obakin acknowledges that the pressures on our young people grow daily and without the right support, mentoring and guidance, the future of the UK, our business community and the general success of the country could be viewed as looking bleak. He said:

“Being brought up in Nigeria our culture was very different. There was little peer pressure and the centre of a teenagers life was the family, we even had restrictions on TV viewing. I explored life as a teenager myself, despite this strict upbringing.

“I feel very privileged to have experience such an upbringing, and on arriving in the UK, I saw marked differences in attitude, opportunity and reactions to situations by young people. Coupled with my own experience, working with youths and seeing what was happening to people around me, I felt driven to write my book.

“My book is a self help manual for both young people and their parents all over the globe. It focuses on the challenges the young people I mentor have said they face, and if it can help just a handful of teens and their families then I will be very proud.”

Part of Gbenga’s campaign is that he holds workshops with teenagers all over the world wherever there is the opportunity to, including Nigeria, the UK and the USA. He has conducted school tours in Nigeria and is embarking on them in the UK, where he will run through the exercises that are included in the book Perfect Teens Do (NOT) Exist.

These exercises include self appreciation, examination of situations and encourages them to think about a bigger picture. Because of the success of them in the workshops, he felt them important to include in the book so people further afield can benefit. Gbenga, who through a charity organisation in Barking and Dagenham, is also providing food to sheltered homes for the homeless, said:

“The topics include peer pressure, finding your own purpose, addictive substances such as drink and drugs; and of course the current days hot topic, social media and internet use. A scary article said that children find it easier to find cannabis than alcohol, and in a society like that we really owe our teenagers to arm them with self understanding and tools to resist.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Toms .