Purpose Driven & Leadership

Preparing young people for a future of excellence is the goal in everyday life. How do you prepare your child for his or her future you may ask?

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.