It is natural for kids to struggle in school. Parents may read articles on how to Prepare Your Child For School but it is only when their child is indeed at school that they are faced with the real test. They need to learn how to be supportive and offer the right advice.
Similarly, the children need to learn how to communicate properly so that they can openly share their struggles and overcome them. So, here are a few things you can do if you are wondering how to talk to your parents about something that is bothering you at school.
Always Keep an Open Communication Channel
Don’t shy away from sharing snippets of your life with your parents. Always keep them updated on how your studies are going, how your mental health is, and more.
If you always keep your parents as your confidante and see them more like your friends in such moments, you will be able to open up to them easily. When you are not close enough to your parents to tell them about your struggles, this is when trouble starts.
If you are cut off from them or afraid of them from the beginning, it becomes all the more difficult to suddenly tell them if something is bothering you at school. So, it is important to keep the communication channels open with your parents.
Rely on the Bond of Trust
Your parents have brought you into this world and raised you to be who you are today. You have a bond made of love and trust that cannot be broken no matter what you tell them. Believe that they will only want what’s best for you.
If you trust them and believe that they trust you too, it becomes easier to reveal your struggles in front of them. If they learn to rely on that bond as well, it can help in child growth and development.
Choose the Right Time
Timing is key in these situations. Make sure that your parents are in a place where they can calmly sit down and listen to you. They have their struggles and if they are occupied with something, they won’t be able to give you enough attention. You need to wait for the right time to be vulnerable with them and know that they are paying attention to every last word you are saying.
If something is bothering you at school, they will want to know and it would be best for you to reveal this information when they are in the state of mind to process it.
Be Honest and Direct
It is natural to hesitate when you are about to tell your parents about something that is bothering you because you are worried about their reaction. Will they be supportive or will they tell you to toughen? These thoughts could enter your mind at the moment you sit down to talk to them but you need to be completely honest and direct.
Your struggles are not your own, you can and should share them with your parents. They are there to help you navigate through life, especially in this era of modern education, until you are mature enough to do so on your own.
Let Your Feelings Out
You don’t have to suppress your feelings or hide that you are distressed in front of your parents. You need to let all your emotions show so that they can understand the gravity of the situation and advise you accordingly.
Don’t lose complete control because you still need to tell them why you are so bothered. So, even when you have all your emotions on display, be clear about what you wish to convey.
Be Patient and Tell All the Details
It can be intimidating to talk to parents but a cool head and patience are key. Don’t skip the details when you tell your parents the whole story. The details will truly let them know why you are so bothered.
Before you say anything to them, sit down with a cool and collected mind. Organise your thoughts and plan how you will start, what you will do, etc. Your goal is to make them understand the full picture so that they can offer proper advice.
Give Heed to Their Perspective
Be respectful and quietly listen to their perspective after you have told them everything. Do not cut them off when they are saying something. In the heat of the moment, it might not seem right to you but you need to think before believing that your parents don’t understand you. What they say can help your perspective and see your problem in a new light.
Talk About the Possible Solutions
When you are the one struggling, it is hard to think of solutions to your problems but brainstorming with others certainly helps. Once you reveal your problem, your parents are going to want to help you.
So, you should talk about the possible solutions with them. They have more experience than you in handling difficult situations and will be able to offer you insights you couldn’t have on your own.
Brainstorming solutions with them will not only help you find an effective way to deal with your problem, but it will also take away a huge burden from your mind. You will certainly feel lighter once you have talked with your parents.
Be Flexible and Stay Open to Compromise
Do not be rigid and reject any suggestions by your parents that don’t automatically match your expectations or align with your initial thoughts. Try and be flexible on this matter. Consider their perspective while keeping an open mind. There are alternative solutions to everything if you are willing to compromise. It is not a bad thing to be willing to adjust.
If you learn to be flexible and stop seeing compromises in a negative light, it can help you grow in life. It will also allow your parents to see you in a new and more mature light, which in turn will encourage them to trust and respect your decisions.
Thank Them For Listening
When you have told them everything and discussed the solutions to your problem, thank them for listening to you. They will appreciate this gesture and this will create a healthy dynamic between you and them.
It will make you more open to sharing your thoughts and concerns with them. The next time something happens, you will feel a little less hesitant to approach the subject than before.
They may be your parents but they deserve to be thanked for listening to you. There is a generation gap that they put aside when they try to understand your perspective and give you advice based on it. This effort should be appreciated. Such a gesture will show your care and attention towards them.
The Bottom Line
These are some of the ways you can make it easy to talk to your parents about things bothering you at school. Parental involvement was not something that was heard as often as it is nowadays.
Before the days of modern education, parents were hardly ever involved in their children’s education and school life. Now it has become necessary in most of the areas of a student’s life
