Family Support
- Family life provides high levels of love and support.
- Give more hugs and verbal reinforcements; don’t assume youth know how much you love them.
- Set aside at least one evening per week for family activities.
Parent Communication
- Youth have frequent, in-depth conversations with parents.
- Regularly ask youth questions about what they think and believe.
- Have topical family dinners every once in a while in which the whole conversation focuses on one topic.
Parent Involvement in Schools
- Parents are involved in helping youth succeed in school.
- Make it a point to talk with all of your child’s teachers during the school year.
- Regularly ask your teen what they are learning in school.
- Offer to help with homework in appropriate ways.
Parental Standards
- Parents have standards for appropriate conduct.
- Regularly re-negotiate family rules with teenagers so they are developmentally appropriate and fairly enforced.
- Talk with other parents when you’re not sure how to respond to a particular situation.
Time at Home
- Youth spend time at home at least four nights a week.
- Set limits on how often youth can go out with friends during the school week.
- Do not let a teenager work more than 15 hours per week during the school year.
Decision-Making Skills
- Youth are good at making decisions.
- Include your teen in family decisions and explain the decision-making process.
- Do not blow up at poor decisions; help your teen learn from them.
Values Helping People
- Youth believe it is important to help other people.
- Regularly spend family time helping others and talking about why you do it.
- Encourage and support your teen to take (reasonable) risks to help other people.
Empathy
- Youth care about other people’s feelings.
- Model mutual respect in the family.
- Do not tolerate putdowns.
- Listen to your teen express feelings, and teach him or her to listen to others.
Friendship-Making Skills
- Youth are good at making friends.
- Give teenagers ideas of creative things they can do with friends.
- Emphasize friendships in your own life and encourage your teen to invite friends to your home.