Global teenager’s authority. Analysis of the results of nationwide surveys

Abstract

In a postmodern world characterized by a polyphony of values, the upbringing and education of young people becomes a challenge for parents, teachers, pedagoguges and educators. In view of the widely proclaimed fall of authority among children and adolescents, the situation seems all the more crisis. In order to find out what adolescents' opinions about their authorities are, the project "Let's be the seekers of authorities" was carried out. 104,055 students of grades 4th – 8th of primary school and 3rd grade of lower secondary school participated in the survey carried out by the survey method. The results show that younger respondents do not always know what qualities an authority should have. It is optimistic that - as shown by the analysis of the collected empirical material - the tasks of authority, such as being available in difficult situations, arousing the trust of teenagers, are most often carried out by the closest people - parents, grandparents, siblings and friends. It is worrying that the role of authorities is not played by teachers and educators; more often, in difficult situations, teenagers turn to their educators for help. Improving the authority of teachers, and educators in particular, is therefore another challenge for the education system and teacher and educator training institutions.