As a parent, you have the most significant role in shaping your children. You have the opportunity to help your child excel in academics, but also in life. Empowering children goes beyond nagging them to do homework or offering rewards for good grades. Those things are often necessary, but empowerment takes more.
Empowering your children means using words and encouragement to help them develop self confidence, a sense of identity and a safe environment to explore their interests and even fail. Empowering children takes work, so how will you feel empowered to empower your children?
Take a look at your child’s long term goals. Sit down and develop these goals together. Look beyond getting an A in biology this semester and talk about what career goals they have and what kind of person they want to become. When both you and your child have a long term vision, you will know the most helpful ways to empower your child. As you see them accomplish their goals, you will see how your role has been beneficial for them.
Keep track of your child’s accomplishments. This includes grades and exam scores, but also includes social accomplishments, caring for their community, investing in an outside interest, and acts of kindness that display integrity and character. No child gets it right all of the time, so when you are feeling frustrated by a particular behavior you can remember all of their accomplishments and see the growth and development they are experiencing.
Teenage years are tender years and need to be navigated with extreme care. You are constantly figuring out how to communicate with your teenager and discovering what freedoms and boundaries they need. You are resolving conflicts and at times making necessary demands. This can be exhausting. Take time to engage in some activities you enjoy. Get plenty of exercise and sleep to help relieve stress. The better you feel about yourself, the more you will be able to empower your student.
Ultimately, make sure you are communicating with your child. You will know what problems they are facing and you will be able to empower them to solve those problems. Children that feel empowered, loved, safe and cared for will find ways to be successful in life.