Helping our children: That’s all we can do

By General Education Advice

FEMALE-DEPRESSION_2792194bIn providing educational services to Connecticut parents for the last 16 years, I have heard most every variation of challenge that faces parents. Certainly, most calls start with inquiries about test prep or tutoring or college counseling but many quickly evolve into discussions that relay to the personal challenges of teens.

Due to my book and other writing on the subject of motivation, I also get many e-mails with extensive detail from parents about their children. As a father of three, I really do empathize.

As parents, part of the emotional challenge is that we can’t solve issues.  We can merely help.  When teen girls are going through what seems to be endless social drama, we can advise but we can’t (and shouldn’t) directly intervene. When teens are involved in trying out for the play or team, we can encourage work effort and perhaps help them practice, but we can’t try out for them.  When teens are seemingly clueless about the impact of their grades or SATs on college choice, we have to intervene while balancing the challenges of being the endless nag.

At least related to the last part, The Learning Consultants serves as an effective intermediary.  We can be “the help”.  That’s all a parent can really provide.