How to help with poor academic performance in your teen. -

Poor academic performance in your teen: These days our kids are under more academic demand then before. Now they must study many hours to fulfil the demand of good grades.

There is too much pressure on teens as the subjects are more advanced these days. Moreover, there are pressure of exams, terms, and reports.

In this condition, many teens become unable to perform well at their schools.

I must say teens with poor grades may lack the ability to get good grades at school, but they are not underachievers at all. So, do not call them underachievers.

With proper guidance and help they can get good grades also. And as a parent it`s our responsibility to offer support if we find any of our child in challenging situation in studies.

So how can we go about doing this?…

Topics covered in this Blog

Some facts of factors that cause learning disability in teens
Impact of poor academic performance in your teen
Risk Factors that can contribute to poor academic performance in your teen
Practical things parents can do to help their teens?
A dozen ways you can help your teen in their academic performance
Important note to parents
Conclusion

Some facts of factors that cause learning disability in teens

At the start I want to show some percentages of factors that cause learning disability in teens.

According to a research by U.S special education program in 2017-2018 school year the most common factors of learning disabilities in teens are.

Specific learning Disability (35 %)
Speech or language Disorders (20%)
Health condition (13%)
Autism Spectrum disorder (9%)
Intellectual Disability (6%)
Development Delay (6%)
Hearing, orthopedic, and visual impairments, traumatic brain injuries& other less than 2%

Impact of poor academic performance in your teen

The common indicators that poor academic performance in your teen are mainly the following

Low marks in tests and exams
Having knowledge less than their current grade level
Not able to complete academics and dropout

Risk Factors that can contribute to poor academic performance in your teen

Solution for in proving academic performance can be designed only when you know the contributing factors for the poor performance.

To do that, we have outlined below an exhaustive list of the risk factors that can contribute to poor academic performance in your teen.

Spend some time and go through the list that is given below and mark the different factors that you think can be affecting your teenager.

Individual risk factors that contribute to poor academic performance in your teen

· Having low self-confidence and self-esteem. A feeling of not being good enough or adequate.

· Teens who are very moody, sensitive, withdrawn. Who can get easily hurt and have trouble getting over it?

· Inadequate or poor Social Skills or has social anxiety.

· Lack of good communication skills. Where teen fail or struggle to articulate what they know.

· Substance addiction or abuse issues (Such as drugs, alcohol, smoke etc.)

· Other types of abuses (Domestic, physical, sexual etc)

· Teen struggling from anxiety, depression, Stress etc…

· Teen who have problem with law, anger issues, aggression, violent behaviour, hyperactivity, risk taking behaviour etc…

· Prior bad experiences in Schools.

Any physical health issues are your teen is facing.

Family risk factors that contribute to poor academic performance in your teen

When teens come from a low socioeconomic status
The teens Family structure (blended, single, step, foster etc…)
Parents availability and time for their children
Disinterested parents in teens school activities

· Very high or too Low expectations form parents

· When parents are very strict or rigid

· When Parents have very low aspirations themselves

When parents do not monitor their child’s activities

Peer risk factors that contribute to poor academic performance in your teen

When your teen has no friends at school
When your teen has friends, who are delinquents
When your teen has friends with negative outlook
When your teen’s friends have poor academic performance themselves
When Friends are having school problems
Friends who socialise a lot and have other priorities.
Bullying: Not just from school but also from social media or from any other source.
When your teen faces social isolation from their social circles. Which is also part of bullying can affect the teens grades.

School risk factors that contribute to poor academic performance in your teen

Schools with Ineffective or disinterested teachers
Schools that have very rigid curriculum

· When teen is not able to identify with school

Mismatch in individual and expected learning style
Schools that are not equipped to spot, address, and guide teenagers with problems.
Teens who have multiple school movements and find difficulty coping.
Schools that have poor administration support
Too large Sized schools that are not able to give personal connect and attention to Teen.
Schools that concentrate heavily on academics and have less opportunity for extracurricular activities

· Schools that have conflicting values or Negative climate

Other common risk factors that contribute to poor academic performance in your teen

Teen who have responsibilities beyond their age (Take care of siblings, handling adult jobs… etc)

· Teen who must put in long or stressful work hours

Teen who are overworked all the time. (Holding multiple jobs)
Teen who are not able to get adequate resources to help them with their academics.
There are some other factors in teens who can lead teens towards failure at school. For example, ADHDA, dyslexia, high functioning autism and many other. Students with such disabilities can show poor result at school.

· Malnutrition. It does not only me lack food. It can be also teen not eating the needed balanced diet for healthy body functions and growth.

· Too many distractions such as serial on TV, movies, games, social activities etc…

· It can even be that your teen is just out right lazy. Do not wish to put the effort needed to do well in academics.

(Source:https://www.purdue.edu/hhs/hdfs/fii/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/s_wifis11c01.pdf)

More the risk factors that your teen has the more it contributes to poor academic performance in your teen. The diagram below can substantiate this point.

Practical things parents can do to help their teens?

Below we have listed the practical next steps that parents can take for each of the cluster of risk factors that we have outlined above.

For Individual risk factors

There is no blanket solution for this risk. As each of the triggers need different course of actions to be taken.

Example a teen struggling with abuse or bullying will need different interventions than a teen dealing with substance abuse.

So, the next steps are …

Zero down on what are the individual risk factors that you think are contributing to poor academic performance in your teen
Find out if there are any triggers that is causing this.
Learn in detail about the risk factor to be more aware of the issue you have in hand.
Design their plan to help them get over that challenge.

The common steps are to be available for your teen. Listen to them, Spend time with them. Love them unconditionally without any judgements.

To know in detail about most of these problems and how to deal with them you can browse through the articles we have written. You can use the link that is given here. Parenting challenges while raising teenagers

For Family risk factors

If you feel that it is the family risk factors that contribute to poor academic performance in your teen, then.

The next steps are…

1. Introspect on your parenting style

2. Make needed changes in the trigger factors to help your teen.

3. Make your home environment more conducive for your teen.

4. Pay more interest in your teen’s academic.

5. Talk and engage with your teen and set expectations to your teen.

1. Parenting styles

2. Stress in Teens

3. Breaking rules

For Peer risk factors

If you feel that it is peer risk factors that is contributing to poor academic performance in your teen, then…

The next steps are…

Find out the specifics of the issues your teen is facing.
Talk to your teen on peer pressures and how to navigate it.
If your kid is facing bullying issues, then speak to school authorities for help.
You can also call out and speak to the bully’s parents on the issue.
Educate your teen on the types of friends and teach them on healthy and unhealthy relationships.
Teach your teen social skills. Support them to make friends.

1. Choose right friends

2. Bullying

3. Peer pressure

For School risk factors

If you feel that it is the school risk factors that is contributing to poor academic performance in your teen, then…

The next steps are…

Schools with Ineffective or disinterested teachers
Schools that have very rigid curriculum

1. Talk to your teen about the issue and understand the solution they have in mind.

2. Have a conversation with the schoolteacher.

3. Have conversations with other parents to understand their opinion about the school.

4. Talk to school authorities on your concerns to find solutions.

5. Offer to volunteer and help school improve their offering.

6. Explore other schools in the neighbourhood and see if a shift will be of help.

You might be interested in reading our article Adjusting to new school…

Other common risk factors that contribute to poor academic performance in your teen

Once again there is no blanket solution for these risks. As each of the triggers need different course of actions to be taken.

Example a teen struggling with abuse or bullying will need different interventions than a teen dealing with substance abuse.

So, the next steps are …

· Find what the concern is

· Find out what the trigger is

· Gain knowledge on the issue

· Work with your teen and device a solution

You might be interested in reading our articles that can help you with this risk factor…

Smart teen
Discipline
Chores in Teenagers

A dozen ways you can help your teen in their academic performance

Set your teen daily Routine

Some teens don`t set their daily routine or maybe they don`t know how they can effectively manage their time. In this situation parents should come forward for help.

Then there is need to set their routine after school.

You can make a chart for their ease also or you can tell them rules. For example, you can say they can chill 30-40 minutes after their homework.

Rule out the main factor of your teen poor result

I mentioned various factor of teen poor results at school. What you need to do is rule out the exact cause of why your teen is falling behind in studies.

Once you spot out the exact cause then take steps in that perspective. Cause can be physical issues in teen or medical related issues or any mental health issue.

When you have done it. Monitor the progress and see if poor academic performance in your teen has improved.

Offer your support

Maybe you are thinking of some other things to help your teen in studies like tutor or other school resources.

Beside all these supports your teen still need your help.

Encourage them how they can get good grades. Take care of them and their studies.

The reason is that no one can offer support as a mother or father. Be actively involved in their schoolwork and school activity.

Make a place for your teen studies

Its`s also beneficial to set up a separate place for teens studies at home.

Try to decorate your teens study place with all the accessories they need during their study time. Like computer, notebook, pens, or books.

Set boundaries and rules to others in the family so tat they respect the place and not mess it up or play in that area.

Remove distractions

Try to remove all the distractions that can interrupt teen during their studies. It is become difficult to focus on studies when there is noise of siblings or TV.

Get your teen to switch off their cell phone off during studies to avoid interruptions.

Encourage your teen to set a goal

Teens with goals usually perform well in their studies. For this reason, you should encourage your teen to set a clear goal and then do study hard to achieve that goal.

Appreciate their effort not just the result. Have small celebratory events like a pizza party or a bar of chocolate for academic endeavors.

Get involve in your teen’s daily homework

Teens become more responsible when parents look over at teens daily homework assignments or tests.

This thing motivates them to get good grades. They also feel that their work is of importance to you. So, try to get involved in your teen daily school activities.

Get support at school

You can also get support from your teen’s schoolteacher. Try to have a meaningful conversation with your teen’s teachers and completely discuss the issues or causes of your teen poor performance at school.

Teachers often pay extra attention to student with poor grades, so it is a good idea to seek their help.

Offer Reasons for rewards

It is also a good idea to offer some rewards for good grades. This thing can also encourage teens to get good grades.

Rewards might be little or big according to your family rules. And celebrate.

Build strong self confidence in your teen

Self-confidence is very important in teens over all personality. Teen with low self-confidence not only fall behind in studies but also in all other fields of life.

You cannot build a strong self confidence in your child overnight. This process takes time.

During their growing age, you must take care of all the aspects that can build strong self confidence in your teen.

Tell them they are not less than anyone. They can also perform well in studies with little effort. Such kind of conversation encourage them for positive changes.

Spend some time and read our article Self-confidence. To give you some insights.

Consider Mental Health Issues in Teens

Teens with mental illness face difficulty in their studies and homework. It`s become hard to study when someone feeling depression or stress.

If you are noticing any sign of depression or chronic stress in your teen, try to seek help from counselling.

Because no matter how much you are trying for good grades of your teen, you can face the same result if your teen is struggling with depression.

So, it`s necessary to take care of their mental health.

Our article mental stress can give you some insights into this issue.

Be patient and Consistent

Resolving issue of poor result in teen may take longer period as it is a difficult and challenging process for teen also.

So, parents should show patience during the process as patient is key to keep stress under control in you and your teen.

Also be consistent in your effort. Being fully present one day and completely not available another. Making a big issue out of poor grades once and not bothering about it the other. Will not send a good message to your teen and there will be little change in the academic performance of your teen.

An important Note to Parents

At end I want to tell you the most important thing about your kids, that you should follow for the wellbeing of your teens.

Maybe you have a child who is more genius then the other. Maybe you face no difficulty in one`s school but you are seeing poor school result of other.

Or maybe your one child gets highest grades in some subjects and other subject they score low.

It`s natural but don`t try to compare your teen with others be it their peers or siblings.

This thing not only destroy your child self-esteem but maybe they become poorer in studies.

You can motivate your teens to help each other in studies, but never give preference to one over other.

I saw many examples where parents usually prefer their child who is brilliant in studies tan one who is poor in academics.

Understand your teens potential and set expectations as per that. Teach them to give and do their very best. Do not have too high or low expectations that can either make your teen very anxious or too lazy.

Conclusion

Studies or grades can`t define your love to your child. Try to give unconditional love to your teen. Tell them they are your priority and you love them without any condition. Be nonjudgmental about their abilities or effort.

Have a conducive environment in the house and be participative in their life.

With proper diagnosis of the issue what is causing poor academic performance in your teen it is easy to address the issue and take necessary help to progress.

And in a short while you will have one happy teen who is performing well in their academic and be all set out to face the world positively.

God Bless!!

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Let us know the strategies you have used to get your teen improve on their academic performance… Leave your comments below…