Meet Teaching Teens
Tips for Parents
I am always looking for ways I can help parents help their own kids to do well in school (and life), so I put together a small but helpful tip sheet that is nice to give out at events such as open house or back-to-school-night. Years of experience at the front of the classroom have shown me that students who do the three things i strongly suggest, combined with parents, who do the three things I strongly suggest, almost always have productive meaningful years.
Make Sure Your Teens Have a Quiet Place and a Regular Time to Study
Teachers give homework. Parents expect homework. Students need to do homework. However, without a designated place and time where students can actually do their homework, the system breaks down. Ask yourself the following questions: “Does my child have a location where he or she can work in peace and quiet? Does my child have a regular time slot when she or he can be expected to do the work that has been assigned?” A consistent homework location and consistent homework time in a consistently homework-friendly environment (i.e., no phone, no MySpace, no television) is something your kids might not necessarily recognize that they need, nor know how to create for themselves. Yet as a parent, it is your job to create a space, place, and schedule so that your teen can be successful.
Take a Good Look at Your Teenager’s Friends
The truth is friends are incredibly important to teenagers, and the amount of influence peers have on the decisions that your child will eventually make is much larger than most parents ever want to believe. Know your teen’s friends! Know who they are. Know what they are doing. Know their habits of character, personality, and school. (It’s not that hard to find out. Usually, a few minutes of conversation with any young person will clue you in on all you need to know.) Now, will teens try to pull the wool over the eyes of adults? Of course. This is why if red flags go up, you should trust your instincts and take action. While your teenager may not be immediately receptive to the fact that you are doing this, this is what good parenting is: getting involved and warding off trouble before it happens. Like attracts like, and teens who hang around with good kids usually turn out to be good kids as well.
Set High Expectations for Your Child, the Teachers, and the School
If 200 students complain about something on campus, nothing happens. If 20 teachers complain about something on campus, things might happen. If 2 parents complain about something on campus, mountains move. This is because when you are a parent, your are the boss. Everyone in education works for you, and if you let us slide (us being the kids, the teachers, or the school), we probably will. However, if you set the bar high and insist that we rise to the occasion, you will discover that we may not bat a thousand, but we certainly will put in that extra zing to work toward meeting your expectations. Parents who set high standards and make them clearly known right at the start of the year often see that people rise to meet their expectations. And parents who don’t do this at the start of the year often turn into complainers who wish things were different. I am not saying you get to run the school, but I am saying that you most certainly have a powerful voice in how the school runs. Set high expectations. Hey, when it comes to my own kids, I most certainly do.
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