At Home: Understanding Parents

When you’re in school, parents and guardians often seem out to put obstacles in the way of your having a good time. They might not want you to go out, to see friends or to stay chatting on the phone or on the internet for too long. Terrible, isn’t it?

The trick is to remember that your folks are looking out for you. It’s kind of hard to stay motivated for long-term goals such as exams that may be still quite a few months away, so they’re anxious to do the motivation for you.

Have you ever told them how hard you have it and watched as they throw their eyes up to heaven and say that you don’t know how good you have it? Generally speaking, at that point, the teenager tends to go stomping out of the room to make a point.

Here’s how to make it work. Involve them. There are some tips given here on getting your parents or guardians to ask you the homework you’ve learned. In this way, they can see how hard you are trying. Tell them that you have a test and you’re aiming to do really well; let them know what’s going on in school.

When a parent or guardian asks how you got on in school, instead of huffing and puffing and making an unintelligible grunt, show that you can act like an adult. You know what usually happens when you act like an adult? You’re treated _________________________ (fill in the space with the correct answer!)