Dr. Becky Kennedy’s “Good Inside” is written for parents, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how relevant it is to the work we do with teenagers in schools. The core idea is simple, yet powerful: people (including children and teenagers) are inherently good. Even when they mess up. Even when they push back. Even when they make choices that do not reflect their best selves.
That perspective could shift many things.
In high schools, we often deal with behavior after the fact. A missed assignment. A phone out in class. A disrespectful comment. And it is easy to label those moments as laziness, defiance, or disrespect. But Good Inside asks us to look deeper. What is underneath the behavior? What need is going unmet? What skill still needs to be learned?
Similar to the message of The Teenage Brain, we’re reminded that teenagers are not finished products. Their brains are still developing. Their identities are still forming. They are trying to belong, to be seen, to figure out who they are… all while balancing academic pressure, social dynamics, and everything else life throws at them. If we approach them with the assumption that they are good inside, even when their behavior is frustrating, we are more likely to respond with clarity and compassion rather than shame or control.
Good Inside explores the concepts of “seeing the good, setting the boundary, and staying connected.” That translates well to education. We can believe in our students’ worth, hold high expectations, and maintain a positive relationship simultaneously.
I hope this can inform how we build connections with students in the coming year. There’s also some good parenting messages in there. More on that later.
Mr. Zerwas Teaches Here 