Did your once cooing, cuddly, smiling baby turn into a much taller version that obviously knows much more than you do? Do you fear your teenager’s eyes will get stuck in the back of their head from the constant eyeball rolling? And, is the homework battle now a 10.0 on the Richter scale? If you answered at least two of the three above questions with “yes”, you just might have a… teenager! Being a teenager is a tough job, but parenting a teenager can be even harder. At our online high school in Arizona, we understand the challenges of being a teenager and of being the parent of a teenager. It’s why we prioritize providing parents with educational resources to support them as they support their Arizona online high school student.
How Does Teenage Brain Maturity Impact Arizona Online School Success?
Some parents believe that their teenagers have truly lost their minds. Brain maturity is a process, as you help train your Arizona online high school student to make good decisions about priorities, emotion management, and self discipline for time structuring. Remember to be patient, as there is a lot going on in that teenager’s brain! An elevated level of hormones, plus ongoing brain development all takes place at the same time. Does it comfort you to know that the human brain does not reach full maturity until the mid-20’s? And that the area of the brain that adults use to manage their emotions, make decisions, reason, and control themselves is getting “remapped” during the teen years?
During this time, teenagers rely on a different part of the brain for the above functions, and this part of the brain is responsible for emotional reactions. Hence, there really is a biological reason for your teenager’s heightened emotional responses of anger, sadness, joy, etc. If teenagers rely on just how they feel to make decisions, it is less likely that they will apply sound judgment to their decision making processes.
Practical Ways You Can Help Your Arizona Online High School Student
First, remember that you don’t have to respond with the same level of emotion that your teenager expresses. Take a deep breath, listen to understand what is behind the emotion, and then give your student feedback to make sure they know you are listening and want to understand. It could go something like this: “It sounds like you are pretty upset about ________. What happened to make you feel this way?” It’s important to start training your student to focus on facts to help control their feelings. This is why the “What” question is important – “What happened?” instead of “Why are you acting this way?” This will help your teenager feel listened to, which in turn can help he/she calm down and start to reason through the situation with your help.
Teaching Reasoning Instead of Responding Immediately Will Improve Arizona Online School Study Skills
Tackling emotions with truth is also a key to helping your student learn sound reasoning skills and emotional management. For example, your student might say, “This whole thing sucks! I hate _______, and I am NOT doing it anymore!” Take a deep breath, DON’T respond with “You will or else!” DO respond with something like this, “Wow, this sounds really tough. WHAT made you come to this decision?” Then, let your student talk, all the way through, nodding, and listening, only responding to let them know that you are listening. That could sound like, “OK, I hear what you are saying” or if they are focusing just on feelings, ask “WHAT happened to make you feel this way?”. After listening, patiently go back and repeat what you
heard to make sure you understand. Try, “OK, so I think I get what you are saying. Is it like this _____?” If your teenager says yes, then try, “I’m glad you took the time to help me understand what’s going on.” Then, go back to the details and bring facts back into the equation. It could sound like this, “So, when you said everything sucks, what you really were saying is that _______. It sounds like a tough situation but that it’s not everything, it is this particular situation. Do you think there are any solutions?” And then listen and provide factual feedback again.
At Our Online High School in Arizona, We Are Available to Listen
Every time you listen with the intention of understanding, you gain your teenager’s trust. You are also expressing unconditional love, which is the universal language of every teenager, no matter how they act or what they say. Be patient as you train them to think and respond from reason instead of emotion. This exercise will translate into better choices, more self-discipline, and maturity that in turn produces better results for their online high school education. At our online high school in Arizona, our staff and faculty are also available to listen, and help coach your teenager, equipping them to succeed academically and in life.
Our Online High School in Arizona Creates Success for Students!
At Hope High School Online, we are so proud of our students, and the progress towards maturity they make during their time at our Arizona online school. Our counselors and staff make it an absolute priority to support the parents of our students, as they help our Arizona online high school students to gain the life skills needed to become successful adults! As a matter of fact, we believe that the support we provide to parents of our students is one of the reasons why 8 out of 10 Hope High School Online students go on to higher education.
Hope High School Online is a Great Choice for Online High School in Arizona
Hope High School Online is an Arizona public online school that offers a more positive, safer learning environment than many ground based campuses. Hope High School Online provides the environmental control that many parents hope for, along with award winning curriculum that prepares high school students to succeed in their higher education endeavors.
Read our info kit page with additional information about how Arizona public online high school education at Hope High School Online works. You can also reach out to us by e-mail us at enroll@hopehighonline.org or call us at 602-674-5555. We’d love to hear what your needs are and find out how we can help your high school experience be a success!