The simple four step guide to teach your teen responsibility

No parent wants to see their children struggle or fail. In fact, if there is one goal of parenting, it’s to ensure that children are as successful in their endeavors as possible. But when your teen forgets his homework for the fifth day this week and you have to call the teacher, again, to explain, are you really helping?

Of course, there’s a delicate balance between providing support and allowing room for failure and responsibility.  If you want to increase your children’s educational responsibility, here are a few tips that can help.

Set Boundaries


If your child is used to having you step in, he or she may chafe at sudden responsibility. Discuss changes with your teen ahead of time and set a few trial challenges. For instance, a teen who doesn’t take responsibility for keeping a clean room can miss summer outings. This can ease the way for more challenges at school.

Start with Homework


Homework is often not a huge part of a final grade, which makes it a good, low-impact area for learning responsibility. Tell your teenager he or she is now responsible for completing all homework and bringing it to school.

Make it clear that you will not remind them to do homework or ask if they have it ready in the morning. If they have a question, they can ask you or look up how to complete the problem online.

Allow Classroom Failures


It can be difficult for parents to allow their children to take control of all study and test preparation. Tests, after all, show how well a student has mastered a topic. However, students must learn how to study and take tests to succeed in school and college.

Rather than studying with your child for every test, try giving reminders of an upcoming test and allow your teen to decide how long to study. When your teen sees that their actions are directly tied to their performance in school, they are more likely to study harder next time if they perform poorly.

When to Step In


Your role as parent is to step in and help when your child is truly struggling. If you see your child completing homework, working on assignments, trying hard, and still not performing well in school, it’s time to step in. You can offer assistance by setting up additional study time for a particular subject, enrolling your teen in an online class to catch up, or hiring a tutor to coach the student through problem areas. 

This kind of help does not take away from the child’s efforts—instead it provides resources that will help your child succeed. If the school environment is a problem, you may even want to think about changing schools. The Assisted Learning Centre in Fish Hoek provides learners with high quality learning resources by the most qualified teachers –Enrol HERE.

One of the hardest parts of parenting is knowing when to let go. Teenagers are old enough to start taking control of their lives one area at a time. Allowing them to take responsibility for their actions can be a good way to foster a sense of autonomy and competence.

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