Tips on preparing your teenager for college

Time seems to fly so fast in the lives of parents. Most of you can probably remember vividly walking your children into the kindergarten room.  They may have been real excited or cried because it was the first time you had to leave them. The next thing you know, they’re in high school and before you know it, you’re at their high school graduation. As a parent, you want to make sure that the many memorable moments in your child’s life as it relates to education is a positive one. In this blog I want to give some tips to make sure your child is on the right path for preparing for college.

The first step in preparing your child for the future is to find out what occupation he or she wants to go into. In the earlier stages of a child’s life, you will find that they don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. Many children go through 4 years of high school and don’t know what career path they want to pursue. Unfortunately, the mentality of some teens today is “think about today and I’ll worry about tomorrow later”. In my experience as a Principal, many children that don’t have future goals are typically the at-risk youth that often get suspended. On the other hand, you have those who want to be a professional athlete without a plan B for an occupation.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 9,380 professional athletes and you have a .00565% chance of becoming a professional athlete. If your child wants to be an athlete, you don’t want to discourage them. However, they need to know the percentage of those who actually make it as a professional athlete and then choose another career in the case sports don’t work out.

The second step to help prepare your child for college is to guide them to an occupation. What I mean by this is to expose them to various professions and allow them to discover what they want to be. For example, have a simple conversation about various occupations with your child. You can even have them do research online about certain jobs. Try having them Google search “career survey” and do an occupational survey. After finishing the survey, various careers will be displayed based on their answers. You may also discover what kind of jobs would best suite your children by observing the things they like to do as hobbies. Whatever you do, don’t limit them to one occupation. There are thousands of different kinds of jobs in the world and sometimes what you think would be best for your child may not be what they want to be. Allow them to explore the many opportunities that this world has to offer.

The third thing you need to do in order to prepare your teen for college is to make sure they are well prepared for the college entrance exam.  Along with preparing for the exam, they need to research the various colleges and scholarships that institutions of higher learning have to offer. It’s so easy for a teenager to wait until the last minute to take the test and look for scholarship opportunities. I suggest that you have your child see their school counselor and ask about scholarships. There are so many institutions and organizations that are giving money away for many reasons. From being left handed to being short, there’s money out there that your child can get today! If you think I’m joking go to this website: http://www.collegeandfinance.com/32-weird-scholarships-almost-anyone-can-get/

The final step you need to take in preparing your children for college is to make sure they’re involved in extracurricular activities, school/church clubs and community service. Colleges not only like to know that you’re smart, but that you are an active participant in your school and community. For example, it’s looks good on a college application to know that your child was on the basketball team, member of the debate team, and volunteered at the homeless shelter. This shows colleges that your child is a team player and cares about helping others.

These are some but not all the things that will help prepare your child for college and ultimately a future career. Don’t wait until your child’s senior year of high school to do the things mentioned above. And don’t expect them to do these things without your guidance. Once they graduate and out of your house then they will have to handle all the responsibilities that come with being in college. That’s of course until they ask for money. College kids tend to call home for money sometimes. Oh how I remember those days. LOL

Jesse Duckworth

RATED P FOR PARENTS

If you find that this blog is offensive then I'm probably talking to you. After years of working in the school system, I've seen a generation of parents lose trust in teachers, administrators, and the school system. Is it due to the media exposing teachers and coaches that had sexual relationships with students? Is it due to the growing number of kids that are dropping out of school or constantly getting suspended? Or how about the number of students graduating that can't even read? Should all teachers be seen as the "enemy" and not trusted due to the mistakes that other educators have made?

Since this is my post, and I've seen and experienced a lot as an administrator, I can say with all confidence that most educators care about your kids and love them like their own. Many actually get emotional when they feel that a child isn't working up to their potential. I've seen some teachers take this burden home and feel stressed out because at times their hard work seems unappreciated. For example some students purposely come to class with no books, pen, and paper and constantly disrupt or sleep. And don't let me get started with the unruly kids that are so disrespectful it's shameful to even mention some of the ways they can treat their peers along with adults?

The problem I'm having with some parents is that when their child gets in trouble or gets a bad grade, the blame automatically goes to the school. Why don't you believe us? Many of you have never been to an open house, emailed, or even called the school for any reason until you find out your child got failing grades. If you took the time to call the school or communicate in some form or fashion you would find out how they're doing in school and even get to know your child's teachers. Take the time to invest in your child’s future and find out if they're behaving or understanding the work. You may find out that the teacher is teaching, but your child is joking in the back of the room or just sleeping every day in class. And if a teacher does call you about their behavior, stop blaming the teacher all the time! Too many of you are being MANIPULATED! Sorry to tell you but kids do lie in order to avoid getting in trouble. And all the while you’re excusing them and not making them accountable, you're hurting them at the same time. There was a day that a child was scared when the school called the parents because they would get in trouble with the school and the parents. Now kids are threatening teachers saying they're going to call the parents because they know people like YOU will come up to the school without question and cuss out the teachers or administrators.

You may not believe this but your child is capable of bullying, cheating, fighting, smoking, doing drugs, disrespecting authority, etc. Perhaps you should check their cell phones or Facebook for proof. Some of us can look back at our high school days and remember fooling our parents. Well guess what? Your child can and may be doing the same thing. Don't wait until it's too late to find out your child was involved in something that could result in jail or even kill them. I've seen clueless parents crying because their child was sent to jail due to selling drugs or involved in other inappropriate activities. Don't allow your child to be a statistic, get involved in your child’s life! You can make the mistake of being a parent that decides to "respect their privacy" and never look in their rooms or ask serious question about their lives. My thought is as long as a child lives under your roof, you paid for their phone, computer, and so forth, there is no privacy. Staying disconnected with them is not worth it. You may be a friend on a certain level but when it's all said and done YOU ARE THE PARENT!

 I know this is a lot but there was so much on my heart. Of course I can't forget about the parents that do connect with their child’s teachers, ask questions, and even challenge them. I appreciate you and thank you for trusting and believing in our teachers and schools. By working together, your child WILL be successful!

Again I know that some readers may not agree and that's fine. I wrote this because I'm just passionate about the next generation and felt some parents needed to read this. If this helped at least one parent I did my job.

Together let's reach the next generation,

Jesse Anthony Duckworth