Parents as Cheerleaders
We want parents or guardians to provide our Rainmakers Candidates (participating students) with support and encouragement, but we want to make sure parents NEVER give their teens ‘the answers’ to anything!
We will present our Rainmakers Candidates (participating students) with a number of activities and problems that will often challenge them in ways they have never experienced before. Whether the workforce problem teens are trying to solve is easy or hard, parents should let their teens figure out the answer with their teammates and with occasional input from our business Mentors.
Parents should be their child’s best cheerleaders. Parents should encourage their teens. But parents who give their teens more than that (such as answers to questions or solutions to problems), significantly reduce their child’s future chances of success.
If parents want to help their teens, it’s better they serve as their child’s ‘assistant’ than their adviser. Proofread their documents but don’t rewrite their work. Remind your teen when she or he has an online meeting or a project due but don’t do the project for them.
In fact, a research study from the Universities of Pittsburgh and Toronto, published by the National Bureau for Economic Success, recommends that even into college, some students may need planning guidance much more than academic guidance. According to the research, it seems that college demands more of a student’s ability to manage chaos and temptation than suspected. Helping your teen understand that planning ahead, starting projects well before due dates, keeping a to-do list, knowing when to decline party invitations, and generally supporting their organizational skill acquisition is a great opportunity to help your child understand how he or she can control the urge to procrastinate and digress.
Every student who winds up as an adult with a demanding job will have to be able to do all those things.
We do our best to help parents help their teens. GEMESA
We post project due dates on our website calendar and ask high school administrators to send emails to students participating in our Rainmakers Internship Preparation Program, announcing/reminding participating students about project due dates and other key responsibilities that will help them succeed. We ask school administrators to send copies of those emails to parents. As a result, parents will be able to monitor activity and use the information to support your child’s successful independent participation in the program.
You will know exactly what we are doing and when. You will know when a deadline is approaching and what your teen needs to do by that deadline. Remind them about the deadline, but don’t do the work for them. Most importantly, do NOT offer to secure the Rainmakers Internship for them, no matter how many friends or colleagues you know who might be willing to do so. Today’s teens need to do this on their own to prepare for the day when they need to get a job using only what and whom they know, not what and whom you know.
Links to Additional Information:
We Give Teens What Colleges Want.
Non-academic Skills Teens Need Most.
See the Full Sequence of Programs Across Grades and Programs.