Motivating a teen can be an incredibly difficult and frustrating process, often causing parents to resort to threats and anger. While this is a natural response, it is generally not the most effective way to bring about the changes you desire. Instead, you can use the steps we describe below to make the impact you desire while maintaining your calm. Just following these steps will quickly result in a big change in your son or daughter.
Zion Educational Systems counselors can assist you in the search to find help for teens when your patience has run out, call 866-471-8579.
Making An Impact On Your Son Or Daughter In The Right Way
1 – Open communication – When you are able to keep the lines of communication open and clearly relate why you have the expectations you do, it can make a huge difference. This is particularly true for academic performance. Because grades are so important and often neglected by adolescents, using this technique can be an essential step in parenting.
2 – Positive reinforcement – Anger and threats are often the method that parents will use to achieve the behavioral results they desire in children. However, it has been clearly shown in numerous studies that this is not the most effective way to go about making a lasting change. Instead, relying on positive reinforcement is generally the best choice. In practice, this could mean offering some type of reward for positive behavior instead of punishment for misbehaving.
3 – Clear consequences to actions – Finally, one of the most important steps you can take is laying down clear consequences to the negative actions you are trying to discourage. Instead of becoming angry, you should merely make it clear what will happen if your son or daughter doesn’t meet expectations. One of the most important parts of this method is maintaining your calm. Instead of becoming emotional, you are just making the consequences of potential choices clear and obvious. This method in particular can make a big difference for any family who has been struggling to control a problem child.
