For many students, May and June are an exciting time of year. The number of days until school ends and summer begins are counted with great anticipation. Students daydream about days without homework assignments and the hectic pace of the school day. However, before summer begins, teens have responsibilities to handle: year end projects, final exams, summer job hunting. While parents can’t (or at least shouldn’t) take on these jobs, they can help their teens learn to manage the stress involved with them.
Lisa Greenberg, a psychologist in Madison, New Jersey, offers the following suggetions:
- Empathize with the stress your teen is under.
- Admire their effort, while de-emphasizing the outcome – being able to work hard in life is much more important than a grade in a particular course.
- Ask your teen if there’s anything in particular you can do to help (not including writing their papers!)
- Offer a fun, but not over-the-top celebration to mark the end of the work and/or the year to give your teen something to look forward to.
- Remember that it is your child, and not his or her resumé, which is important.
- Hot chocolate: There is very little that can’t be improved for a teen by a loving adult appearing with hot chocolate at the right moment.
Brooke Randolph, a licensed mental health counselor in Indianapolis, Indiana, adds these hints:
- Without saying a word, parents can make sure that teens have healthy meals and snacks available to keep a stable blood sugar level and enable them to think most clearly.
- Parents may be able to gently ask questions that can help their teens prioritize their projects.
- While it may be unpopular, insisting on a bedtime to ensure that teens are well rested will help them manage stress.
- Parents can help a teen take a mental break and keep blood flowing by asking a teen to take a walk in the neighborhood with the parent.
- Parents can celebrate with their children over accomplishments and completed projects, honoring their hard work and renewing their energy for the next project.
Although you can’t make the projects and workload from the end of the school year disappear, you definitely can create a supportive and less stressful atmosphere for your teen.
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