Parenting teens is difficult, especially when they’re preparing to finish high school and go to college. It’s a big step for both teens and parents. However, this is the most important transition that they will go through. Consider the following list of ways you can help prepare your teenager for college life.
Utilizing Helpful Resources
Among the differences between private and public schools is how much time and energy is put into college prep for students. For instance, at private schools, counselors spend about 55% of their time on college counseling for students. At public schools, counselors generally spend 22% of their time helping students with college prep.
Now, whether your teenager goes to public or private school, it’s never enough time or effort in ensuring their future. That’s why you need to put in the effort at home and utilize every resource available to students. These include SAT or ACT prep, scouring college websites, seeking professional advice, and taking tours of different colleges and universities.
Handling Their Finances
Before you consider mortgages, the average American is in $38,000 worth of debt. That comes primarily from credit card debt and student loans. This can be devastating to your life and significantly impact your future. When teenagers go to college, it’s easy to not have a full understanding of how their financial decisions impact their future. This means that it’s easy for them to overspend and build up debt to have fun in school while simultaneously building up student loan debt. That’s why it’s incredibly important to teach your teenager how to handle their finances before they go to school.
Managing Their Schoolwork
It’s difficult to manage your schoolwork when you get to college. You might only be in class a few hours a day, seeming to give you more free time than you ever would have had in high school. However, there is also a lot more studying, research, and effort that needs to be involved in every paper, project, or test. As a student in college, your social life is also radically altered. You have a lot more obligations, be them to Greek life, clubs, friends, intramurals, or internships. To get the most out of their time in college and to prepare themselves for the future, your teenager will need to participate in a number of these social activities.
It can be difficult to manage a social life and schoolwork in college. That’s why you need to help prepare them for managing their schoolwork before they ever go to college. That way, they’re prepared for the challenge.
Caring for Their Own Safety and Well-Being
Going to college is most people’s first true taste of independence. So, what happens when they get sick? More than three million cases of seasonal allergies are reported in the United States each year. Does your teen know how to treat a cold and know where to obtain and take medicine? How does a teenager handle cleaning their room and clothes to stay healthy? Living with a roommate and tackling laundry each week are new challenges for some teens. Is your student prepared to make safe decisions when they go out with friends? Have a discussion about these topics before your teen moves out.
There are so many different challenges to a teenager’s well-being once they get to college. You need to make sure they’re ready to go beforehand. This could mean giving them helpful advice about life or assigning more responsibilities and chores as time goes on at home. It also means trusting them to do the right thing with the background knowledge of safety that you have given to them. In other words, it’s vital to make sure that your teenager has a background on how to take care of themselves and the resources offered by their school to keep them safe and successful.
