Good Parenting

One day you wake up and look at your child and he or she has become a young man or woman. It seems only months when you held this child in your arms as a newborn baby. Now, your child is talking about finishing high school, going to college, and taking a job. The first great feature of this discussion, and this will relieve your parental stress, is that they are talking about going to college. Hallelujah!

I want to outline some of the reasons why high school graduation and going to college is so important for this current generation. In this brief article I’ll explain some basic facts about the challenges confronting our children and I will talk about ways of alleviating parental stress about career selection and college.

The growth of technical information is phenomenal, reportedly doubling every 72 hours. 3000 new books are published every day. In what is called the Web 2 world, new social communities are springing up daily. Our children are part of this exponential explosion of knowledge. How do we cope with the stress of this rapid change? How do we direct our children into an appropriate career? Should we encourage them to go on to college?

Within seven years, over three quarters of US jobs will require highly skilled workers. This doesn’t mean that every young person must go to college but look at some of these facts. Alaska has the lowest completion rate of college attendance in the nation. Alaska has the second highest unemployment rate in the US for people without high school diplomas.

If you don’t have a high school diploma, the chances of being in jail are multiplied four times. College graduates smoke less and more college graduates vote compared to those without a college degree. I know this is unusual information but it does say something about the impact college has on the employment possibilities and the values and habits of young people.

The stress for parents is to build successful pathways for our teens, transitioning smoothly and with support from middle school, to senior school, to appropriate post-school training options. The pressure is intense for both parents and students. Students can easily lose motivation and a sense of purpose and direction. Parents can become frustrated and argumentative.

If we appreciate the importance of the facts presented in this article, as parents we must act and we must act now. Stress levels and anxiety become elevated when we are unable to control circumstances, when we are confused and lacked direction. The same stress levels apply to the ‘whatever’ generation who are also confused and tense about the future.

To manage the stress effectively for both parents and their children, there must be clear communication, shared values, clear vocational goals, academic and social support, and lots of love and respect for our young ones going through this difficult time. The stress relief strategies will reduce parental tension and make sure that the energy we generate is positive and directed towards having our children succeed in their post-school school choices.