Wynberg Boys’ High School

GRADE 11

TERM 3 PROJECT:
Development of Self-in-Society (DSS)
& Careers and Career Choices (CCC)

NOAH.R.JACOBS AND YATEEN NARAN

Noah.R.Jacobs and Yateen Naran
Wynberg Boys’ High School

14/08/2025

15/08/2025
 Contents
1. Introduction ........................................ 2

LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE EXTENT OF

THE PROBLEM
2. The prevalence and patterns of risky behaviour
among adolescents ............3
3. Influences on lifestyle choices and barriers to
healthy living..........................................4
4. Career competency gaps and the support systems
that bridge them ...........................5

DATA GATHERING and ANALYSIS

5. Surveys .............................................. 7
6. Analysis ............................................ 11
CONCLUSION and BIBLIOGRAPHY
7. Conclusion .......................................... 15
8. Bibliography………………………….16
 INTRODUCTION
How can individuals, communities and institutions support
adolescents in making informed lifestyle choices, avoiding risky
behaviours, and developing the personal competencies and
ethical values needed to lead healthy lives and succeed in South
Africa’s evolving socio-economic landscape?

There are many ways adolescents can be supported in leading healthy lives and to
succeed in South Africa’s evolving socio-economic landscape. To answer this question,
it first needs to be understood what a “healthy and balanced lifestyle” is.

The term “healthy and balanced lifestyle” is used to describe a way of living where the
person has incorporated a well-structured balance of physical, mental and spiritual
wellness. In times of high pressure and stress, people tend to neglect their physical
health to focus on the problem at hand. While they think this is a good idea, ignoring
your body's need to physically de-stress is important. One way in which people can do
this is by engaging in physical exercise. By doing so, your brain releases a chemical
called beta-endorphin. This creates a feeling of happiness or what people call “runners
high”. Another way for people to de-stress is by rolling out their tension. Stress can
physically knot up muscles which can be unwound by stretching. Foam rolling is a type
of stretching, using a foam roller, which triggers pressure points, increasing blood flow to
areas of muscles stress. In order for teenagers to lead healthy lifestyles, they need to
have “personal responsibility” which is important, especially when it comes to lifestyle
choices.

“Personal responsibility” refers to someone taking ownership of their actions, whether it

be good or bad. It's important for adolescents to take responsibility for their actions
because decisions during this period in their life directly affect their future. For example,
smoking during this period could lead to addiction and later lung issues. Taking
responsibility also encourages maturity which reduces childish impulses such as blaming
others when things don't go well in life. Healthy and balanced lifestyles, as well as
personal responsibility are extremely important in preventing “risky behaviours” that
teenagers may be exposed to. Unfortunately, a teenager’s environment and background
can play a role in the likeliness of a teenager engaging in risky behaviour, as seen in
teenagers from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Adolescents from economically disadvantaged backgrounds are more vulnerable to risky

behavior as they lack guidance from responsible role models. Their parents might be out
working to bring home money for the household, leaving them alone or with negative
influences. Another reason is that the adolescents may have negative coping
mechanisms. Due to financial hardships, adolescents might pick up harmful ways to
cope with stress or grief. This could include joining a gang or drinking alcohol.
Unfortunately, risky behaviour can have a detrimental impact on a young person’s future,
especially their access to job opportunities, which is why lifestyle choices are so
important.

This current era in the world is unforgiving. Job opportunities are based on first
impressions and reputation. Background searches, digital footprints, and community
profiles are mostly researched when you apply for a job. A person who has had a mis-
conductive teen years may find it harder to come across a job in a professional
environment. By being responsible and making healthy decisions, doors for
scholarships, internship and job opportunities can open up. Teenagers also need to
realize that whatever their lifestyle choices are now could affect how prepared they
would be for jobs in the future. If teenagers make good lifestyle choices, such as
balancing their academics and other aspects of life and making sure that they work hard
in class, this can help them develop the skills and get the marks needed for the careers
that they want to do.

Throughout this project, we will look at the question at hand and the specific aspects of
it, starting with the prevalence and patterns of risky behaviour among adolescents.

THE PREVALENCE AND PATTERNS OF RISKY BEHAVIOUR AMONG

ADOLESCENTS

One of the main reasons that adolescents commit risky behaviour is due to lack of
knowledge about the behaviours and their consequences. This can be seen in the
example of sexual behaviour.

There as many reasons as to why adolescents lack knowledge when it comes to sexual
behavior. One of these reasons is that learners are not properly taught the importance of
safe sexual behavior. Schools may be failing to grasp their pupils' attention when this
topic is taught, causing them to not take the lesson seriously or not listen at all. This
leads to them having limited knowledge of the matter and eventually leading to unsafe
sexual practices. Secondly, media influences can encourage curiosity in teenagers,
resulting in them experimenting with sexual practices. With most social media platforms
not having proper filters or effective censoring for minors, teenagers are exposed to
media and sites which promote sexual behavior. These sources glamourize casual sex,
without taking into consideration the potential consequences like pregnancy or sexually
transmitted diseases. Social media creates a certain idea of sex to teenagers and since
it is glamorized, teenagers will think it is good to have casual sex, but in reality, the
teenagers don’t have the proper knowledge and the only place where they are getting
their ‘knowledge’ is social media. Thirdly, being with a group of friends that practice
unsafe sexual behaviors may result in peer pressure, making you perform sexual
activities without any prior knowledge or guidance. This lack of information could also
result in pregnancy and STDs. Lastly, being in a family where you are afraid to voice
your concerns or ask for help can cause individuals to ask other sources, which may not
always be the best. Sources online are not always the most reliable and people have
their own opinion which will shape their own opinion on the matter. As a result, the
teenager will not be getting the proper information about unsafe sexual behaviour but
instead false information. Lack of knowledge is one of the main contributors to teenagers
committing risky behaviour, but another contributor is peer pressure, which can be seen
in the example of alcohol abuse.

Adolescents want to fit in. They don't want to be seen as a loner or a misfit. So, they
often take drastic steps to be accepted in a group. However, within these groups, peer
pressure is a potential factor which can lead to alcohol abuse. If alcohol is seen as a
“norm” in the group, you may join just to feel like you are a part of the group. Secondly,
teenagers may use alcohol as a coping mechanism. They may drink to give them more
self-esteem or confidence, which is made even worse if they are pressured by friends to
believe that it is a good thing to abuse alcohol. Thirdly, experimentation is easy as
alcohol is easily acquired. Teenagers can easily find drinks at parties, events or at
friends’ places. Lastly a lack of parental supervision and support can result in teenagers
being able to rebel easily and get away with abusing alcohol. Other contributors to
adolescents engaging in risky behaviours, like ones that promote them to neglect their
physical health, can come from an adolescent’s home environment.

The home environment can play a large role in shaping a child's habits for the rest of
their lives. While unintentional, children sometimes pick up on bad habits made by family
members. In households where there are no repercussions for smoking, drinking or
overindulging in junk food, children may pick up the conception that they can do it too.
As a result of the type of home environment that the teenager is in, if the home
environment that the teenager is in is possibly abusive, it could lead to the teenager
having negative behaviors mentally, such as stress, anger, or depression. These
negative emotions can lead to bad coping mechanisms within the household such as
self-isolation, risky behavior or self-harm.

There are many things that can influence teenagers’ lifestyle choices, influences that can
help them to make good choices but also influences that can lead them away from
healthy choices, ultimately being barriers to healthy living.

INFLUENCES ON LIFESTYLE CHOICES AND BARRIERS TO HEALTHY LIVING

Even though adolescent’s have risky behaviours, they make not seek support to help
them change these behaviours. There are many reasons for this. Adolescents might not
seek support because they are scared that they might be judged. While seeming silly,
teenagers are extremely prone to judgement by others. Some teens look for self-
validation from others for them to operate. Another reason is that they think adults will
not take them seriously and brush their problems off. This could be because of prior
experience or engagements with family or friends or just from social anxiety. It is not just
these reasons that prevent teenagers from making good lifestyle choices and avoid risky
behaviour, but it is also due to things such as the media, which can be seen in cases of
unsafe adolescent road use.
The media has a strong hold on the minds of adolescents of this age. Media can depict
various risky or borderline illegal activity and portray it as simply marketing. A variety of
games do this. These include GTA, Need for Speed and other racing games. While
being a game about cars, the gameplay often shows breaking traffic laws and
disobeying orders. These displays of unsafe road use can influence teenagers to
perform similar stunts simply because they had done it before in the video game or seen
it on social media. Through these actions, the media is essentially “glamorizing” these
actions which are unsafe and risky in reality to many teenagers. In order for these
behaviours to stop, safe environments where adolescents can engage in healthy
activities need to be created. Schools can do this by creating safe environments where
adolescents can engage in healthy physical activity.

A safe environment for teenagers consists of a space where they can feel listened to
and not heard. A school can create a space like this by bringing in counselors to listen to
their concerns. By doing this, active listening is implemented. Active listening shows
genuine interest in what a person has to say. Making eye contact, giving full attention
and not interrupting. Another way is by getting up at a school gym. Doing this creates a
positive gym and school ethos, where teenagers can positively vent out by exercising.

A safe environment is a space in which teenagers can engage in physical activity without
fearing any risk to their well-being, emotionally, socially or physically. One method
schools can use to create a safe environment where learners can engage in healthy
physical activity is to create safe facilities in which teenagers can engage in physical
activity, such as a school gym. By having a gym, teenagers can have access to
exercise, which is healthy, and it can also be place where they can positively vent any
frustrations they have, which is a good way to deal with emotions, contributing to their
emotional well-being. Another way schools can create safe environments is to create
physical activities/extra-murals which are inclusive to everyone. These should be
activities for anyone at any fitness level and shouldn’t be extremely competitive. This can
help adolescents not feel like they can’t do any physical activity (based on their fitness)
and as a result, they can feel comfortable as they won’t have to fear anything. This
ultimately encourages the learner to do physical activity.

Healthy lifestyle choices directly have an effect on the teenager’s future, such as their
career choices as well as career competencies.

CAREER COMPETENCY GAPS AND THE SUPPORT SYSTEMS THAT BRIDGE

THEM

‘Career competency’ (Also known as career readiness) is the knowledge and skills that
is needed for a specific careers. When there is a career competency ‘gap’, it means that
there may be a large difference between the skills and knowledge an employer needs
and the skills and knowledge that a person has who wants that specific job.

There are numerous factors that contribute to career competency difficulties. Factors
that can influence a person's competencies include having bad time management,
unhealthy drinking habits, no communication skills, skill gaps and having competencies
that are outdated or having ones that aren't measurable. Despite these factors, there are
ways for adolescents to develop career competency, such as work ethics.

While in school, adolescents can pick up a part time job. This can increase
communication skills, work ethics, and give them experience in some field to boost their
resume. They could also become tutors and help other learners. This can also increase
communication skills, but can also increase their ability to listen, teach and manage time,
making working in an environment with a lot of people easier. Lastly, an adolescent can
freelance. This can be done by simply picking up into their passion, they can hone it and
use it to gain experience in professionalism and make revenue. If they are good at
writing, they can write stories and publish them online. If they like creating music, they
can sample it online. Career competency can be further developed through the help of
peers, especially when it comes to acquiring knowledge for specific jobs.

Peers could create partnerships and run it together, learning from each other and their
own mistakes. Peers could share information they find or have on chat groups to help
others learn about certain topics. Peers can also motivate each other by setting shared
goals, such as attending open days together or preparing CVs. When teenagers work
together, they feel less alone and more supported, especially when adults or school
systems are lacking.

Consulting others about further education is an effective way to gain insight and
confidence about the future. Speaking to teachers, older students or professionals in the
field allows adolescents to learn from people with real work experience. With advice and
insight, teenagers can then make the right decisions/goals for higher education, but this
advice must come from reliable sources. Not every adult gives good guidance, and
misinformation can be harmful.

In order to further answer healthy lifestyle choices and prepare for future careers, we
interviewed four peers on this topic.
 GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION
Based on the ratings given. We have graphically presented the information into a
bar graph:

Graph comparing our ratings to respondent's rating

5
4,5
4
3,5
3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
Respondent 1 Respondent 2 Respondent 3 Respondent 4

Respondent's rating Our rating

Analysis of Results
a) The respondent’s ratings did, to a large extent, correspond with my ratings. All of
their ratings were 4 and my ratings were also 4, except I gave a rating of 3 for
respondent 3.

b) The respondent’s ratings were possibly different due to the fact that we all have
had different experiences of learning about making healthy lifestyle choices and
preparing for the future. Some of us possibly have more knowledge than others
and as a result, some of the respondents are probably more confident in making
healthy lifestyle choices and preparing for the future than others. Some of the
respondents are probably making healthier lifestyle choices and preparing for the
future better than others and this results in some of the respondents being more
confident than others.
c) If a teenager underestimates the consequences of risky behaviour, they will be
put at risk because they will be more likely to commit risky behaviour. Since they
underestimate the consequences of risky behaviour, they believe that the
consequences won’t be extremely bad, and this would make them believe that
they probably could commit this risky behaviour and still be fine. Underestimating
the consequences makes the teenagers believe that they have a certain sense of
“invincibility” or “safety” when they commit these risky behaviours and as a result,
they are ignorant to how bad risky behaviour can affect a person. In the end, the
teenager will be more likely to commit the action.

d) One method respondents can use is to talk to people who can help them or
people who have also had the same weaknesses they’ve experienced. If the
respondent has a weakness in academics, they can talk to people like teachers
who know how to help them improve or people who have been in the same
situation as them. From talking with these people, the respondent can gain help
and insight into how they can fix their weak areas. Another method respondents
can use is to use resources to help them develop their weak areas. This could be
things such as doing online or in-person courses or tutoring to specifically help
the respondent develop their weak areas. Respondents could also do things
such as job shadowing to see how their future careers are and in turn this can
help the respondents develop their weak areas.
 CONCLUSION
When it comes to healthy lifestyle choices, one of the best ways to promote healthy
lifestyles choices is through positive role models.

Positive role models could help adolescents make healthy lifestyle choices by setting an
example to teenagers of how to live a healthy lifestyle. Since the person is the
teenager’s role model, whatever the role model does or however the role model is as a
person, the teenager will want to be like that. As a result, if the role model is making
positive lifestyle choices and living a healthy lifestyle in general, the teenager will want to
be like that and this encourages them to make the same healthy habits that the role
models are making, which in turn helps them to maintain their psychological health. The
role models can also provide support and guidance to the teens in helping them to make
positive lifestyle choices. Role models can also help teach teenagers how to make
positive lifestyle and since teenagers want to be like role models, they will listen and
apply whatever they teach. These all help the teenager make positive lifestyle choices to
maintain their psychological health.

When it comes to preparing for future career, one of the best ways to help teenagers
through this is through activities that help teenagers gain knowledge of themselves in
relation to the world of work, such as job shadowing and career programs.

Taking part in activities that increase an adolescent’s knowledge of themselves in

relation to the world of work can help adolescents realize what type of career/field they
would like to go into. When doing these types of activities such as job-shadowing,
adolescents can see how certain jobs are and this can help them see what jobs that do
and don’t like. If teenagers know what interests them, this can help them choose a job
that they will actually like and from there, they can actually start setting goals/taking
steps that they need to take to get to that future career. Another way it helps is that
these activities help adolescents identify their strengths and weaknesses. If adolescents
know what their strengths and weaknesses are, they can begin to choose careers that
involve more of their strengths than weaknesses and they can take the necessary steps
needed to improve their weaknesses for their future career. These activities help
teenagers know what to expect of the work that they want to do and what skills they will
need and this in turn can help the adolescent work towards acquiring the skills needed.
All of this helps the teenager develop their future career.

One action that teenagers could take is to do job-shadowing. Job-shadowing can help
the teenager get insight/experience into specific careers that they would be interested in.
This insight can help teenagers realize what these jobs would require them such as the
skills needed to perform these tasks. From this insight, teenagers could already set
goals and work on developing these skills in school and this can help them secure a job
in the future. Job shadowing also helps the teenager make connections that could help
them in the future such as with the company that they are job-shadowing, and this can
help open up opportunities for employment in the future. Job-shadowing can also be
added to a person’s CV, which could be beneficial to the teenager in securing
employment in the future.

As one can see, there are numerous ways in which individuals, communities and
institutions can support adolescents in making informed lifestyle choices, avoiding risky
behaviours, and developing the personal competencies and ethical values needed to
lead healthy lives and succeed in South Africa’s evolving socio-economic landscape.
Hopefully, as time progresses, many of the influences preventing teenagers from making
positive lifestyle choices will decrease, leading to healthier teenagers who are better
prepared for the future.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Listed in the bibliography are many of the various sources used to compile and organize
this project:

• BetterHelp. (n.d.). How to Recognize Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms. [online]

Available at: https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/teenagers/how-to-recognize-
unhealthy-coping-mechanisms/ [Accessed 14 Aug. 2025].

• HealthCentreNZ. (2024). Parenting Teens: Creating a Safe and Supportive

Home Environment. [online] Available at: https://healthcentre.nz/parenting-teens-
creating-a-safe-and-supportive-home-environment/ [Accessed 14 Aug. 2025].

• HealthCentreNZ. (2025). The Power of Validation: Supporting Your Teen

Emotionally. [online] Available at: https://healthcentre.nz/the-power-of-validation-
supporting-your-teen-emotionally/ [Accessed 14 Aug. 2025].

• Mayo Clinic. (2025). Exercise and Stress: Get Moving to Manage Stress. [online]
Available at: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-
depth/exercise-and-stress/art-20044469 [Accessed 14 Aug. 2025].

• Psychology Today. (2022). What It Really Means to Be Mature. [online] Available

at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-full-picture/202204/what-it-
really-means-to-be-mature?msockid=02e92488d3c0625109923070d25e635e
[Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].

• Yuen, C. (2018). 16 Strategies for Coping with Stress in 30 Minutes or Less.

[online] Healthline. Available at: https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-
health/stress-coping-eliminate#in-30-minutes [Accessed 4 Aug. 2025].
3.1 Interview
Excellent (4) Good (2-3) Poor (0-1)
The learner has made an effort to The learner has made an The learner has made a poor
collect the data from FOUR peers adequate attempt to collect the attempt to collect data. ONE or
questions.
related to ALL of the data from FOUR peers related to MORE of the interviews have not
The answers provided are clear ALL of the questions. Some been conducted. The answers
and accurately reflect their peers' answers could have been clearer are unclear and inaccurate. No
knowledge of the topic. to accurately reflect their peers' effort was made to draw out
knowledge of the topic. further answers from their peers.

4.1 Graphic Representation

Excellent (4) Good (3) Adequate (2) Poor (0-1)
The bar graph The bar graph mostly The bar graph partially The bar graph does not
accurately represents represents the data represents the data accurately represent the
the collected data, accurately, but minor accurately, with notable data, with significant
clearly comparing each inconsistencies or inconsistencies or inconsistencies or

peer's (1-4) self-rating inaccuracies are present inaccuracies in the inaccuracies in the
with the interviewer's in the comparison of comparison of ratings. comparison of ratings.
rating. ratings. At least TWO At least ONE
All FOUR At least THREE representations are representation is correct.
representations are representations are correct.
correct. correct.
Appropriate graph title,
captions, and key are
shown.

4.2 Analysis of results

Excellent (4) Good (3) Adequate (2) Poor (0-1)
The learner was able to The learner was able to The learner was able to The learner has made
clearly identify key identify relevant key identify some of the key little attempt to identify
points and themes as points and themes and points and themes. They key points. Their
well as infer deeper provided clear provided adequate analysis lacks
meaning. They provided references to the references to the information and
clear references to the interviews and graph to interviews and graph to references to the
interviews and graph to support their analysis. support their analysis. interviews and graph.
support their analysis.
Their answers show Their answers are Their argument is
Their answers show high insight and their findings somewhat insightful but disorganised and lacks
levels of insight and are organised and to the lack thoroughness. Their critical insight.
creative thinking. Their point. findings lack clear
arguments are organisation and
presented in a clear and structure.
organised manner.