Expectations

I just finished a radio interview about my book, Toward College Success: Is Your Teenager Ready, Willing, and Able?, for the Total Education Hour, an education talk show that airs on WRCT 88.3 FM in Pittsburgh. It was a brief interview in which I stressed the importance of teaching teenagers the skills they need to be successful while they are in high school or earlier.

The host, Neil Haley, asked me to end the interview by giving one tip to parents who will be saying goodbye to their students in dorm parking lots next month. I stressed again that hopefully those parents have already been preparing their students, but one thing to emphasize before they leave is expectations.

What are you expecting of your student while she is in college? If you are paying for most or even part of the cost, you certainly are entitled to some expectations. Do you expect your student to achieve a certain grade point? What is the consequence if she does not achieve it? Take into consideration the reason why she doesn’t achieve a good grade. Is it because she hardly goes to class, parties too hard, or fails to seek extra study help? Or is it because she has tried her best and sought help, but the subject was just extremely difficult for her?

Have you made clear your division of financial responsibilities? What will you cover and for what is your teenager responsible? Although you cannot control his social life, have you discussed what will happen if your teenager finds himself in trouble with law enforcement? If your student is attending a school that is too far away for easy trips back home, what are your expectations for getting him home for holidays?

It makes for a much easier solution if these expectations are clear before your student calls you mid-term with a problem. Again, the primary point of Toward College Success is that parents need to prepare their students for a whole range of issues long before they are dropped off in the dorm parking lot.

You can find the Total Education Hour on the following sites:
www.blogtalkradio.com/totaltutor
http://bethelpark.net/BPTV_HOME.cfm
http://phoenixbroadcastingtalk.net/
www.wrct.org
www.prx.org
www.lifeimprovementradio.com