Helping High School Students Prepare for Their Futures!

Yesterday, I met with our high school leadership team. We were discussing how to help our students prepare for a future career or goal. One colleague stated that we should teach our students autonomy. Another argued that we need to put family values first and help students grow with this focus. A third leader suggested that we needed to identify how those values might challenge a student’s future career and college success. The more we discussed this topic, the more I am convinced that we need to help students learn how to take care of themselves to ensure their future success.

Families May Limit Their Children’s Careers

Unfortunately, some families may limit their children’s career choices because:

They may need their child to stay home to care for younger siblings, elders, and manage the household needs.
They may need their children to work for the family business or supplement the family income with a part-time job.
Other families may be concerned about their children’s safety outside of the home.

Families Can Guide Their Children

How we guide our children towards independence while valuing the family’s values is critical and needs to be discussed openly with all family members. Through ongoing discussions with parents and students, I have learned:

Children can learn how to care for themselves through assigned household responsibilities. This will help them gain confidence in their skills and value to their community.
Parents must allow their children to make their own decisions about college and career. Students should be provided with the support and guidance that allows them to pursue their goals.
Students must respect their families. The students should allow their parents the opportunity to grow with them and accept their choices.

Parents Can Nurture Independant Learning

As we prepare for spring conferences with parents, we plan to reinforce this contextual understanding. Parents can nurture their children’s independent, lifelong learning skills while embracing the family’s values.

Happy planning!

Yvette