Targeting teenagers

The elusive youth market is an important yet often frustratingly difficult audience to reach. As the primary audience for Aimhigher, finding ways to communicate more effectively with 13 – 19 year olds is an ongoing challenge for practitioners. There are many barriers to communication with young people and this is especially true of teenagers, who are likely to ‘tune out’ if they feel that they are being told what to do. Notoriously wary of attempts by adults to be cool or too ‘matey’ with them, vulnerable to peer pressure and fearful of putting themselves forward, teenagers demand a whole new set of rules be understood before meaningful engagement can take place.

This section of the resource pack offers ideas and suggestions for how you can become more effective in your communications with teenagers, shares best practice from other Aimhigher practitioners and offers some useful links for further information and support.