In today’s fast-paced world, the role of parents in your life is more crucial than ever. Parents play an essential role in shaping your emotional, mental, and personal growth.
Parents provide vital support and guidance that goes beyond meeting basic needs, helping build confidence, offering emotional stability, guiding your academic and professional aspirations, and understanding the profound impact they have on the future of youth.
Ways to Foster Smart Decisions
Making Decisions After Feeling Confused
Consider the following communication strategies to equip young people with the necessary skills to make wise and healthy decisions, as advised by parentandteen.com.
Promoting Independence
Give young people the space to make decisions when possible and gradually increase their independence as they demonstrate mature choices. It is important to remember that age and physical growth should not be the sole indicators of when youth are ready to take on more decision-making responsibility, as they may not fully reflect their cognitive maturity. Look for signs that your teen is ready for more responsibility, such as the ability to think about the long-term consequences of decisions and actions, weigh the pros and cons, and think before acting.
Healthy Decision-Making Model
Discuss your thought process when making decisions yourself so your teen can understand the different aspects of decision-making. Young people often learn best by observing others.
Encouraging Youth to Have a Voice
For decisions involving young people, consider how you might seek their opinions, concerns, and ideas. You could ask, “What do you think about this?” or “What are your concerns?” or “What do you think we should do?” For some youth, it might help to offer a few ideas and then ask for their opinions. Be open to hearing what they have to say. Even for big decisions where you may have the "final say," young people can still have a voice. When youth feel they have a say, they consider the decision-making process to be more fair.
Offering Support
Be ready to provide guidance and support in decision-making when your teen asks for it. While we sometimes assume that young people want to make decisions on their own, they often still desire parental guidance for major decisions and can feel frustrated when they do not receive the support they need.
Planning Ahead
Help your teen think ahead about scenarios where making decisions might be more difficult, such as stressful situations or when they’re with their peers. These are times when young people are more likely to act impulsively rather than thoughtfully. When they enter a challenging situation with a well-thought-out plan, they are more likely to make good decisions in the heat of the moment.
The Importance of Parental Support in Youth Decisions from a Psychological Perspective
Emmanuel Awad, University Professor and Psychology Expert
Emmanuel Awad, a university professor and psychology expert, explains her perspective on the importance of parental support for youth decision-making.
Parental support is critical in the decisions that young people will make later in life. This support plays a role in determining whether decisions will be good and have a positive impact.
An important point is that young people who are positively influenced and achieve good outcomes often have parents who set boundaries and rules while also providing love and support. These parents manage their children's upbringing, yet they also show understanding and support. This type of parenting helps youth understand that everything has limits, and success requires self-regulation and sound decision-making.
Numerous studies, especially recent ones, show that children who receive parental support tend to do better in school, university, and in their personal lives. Furthermore, they become more independent and make far better decisions than those who do not receive adequate support from their parents.
When parents are supportive of their children, and through offering encouragement and love, young people gain social confidence, regulate their behavior accordingly, and form strong bonds that help them succeed.
Parents who encourage their children, allow them to make decisions, and support them in the process, increase the likelihood that young people will develop leadership skills, make correct decisions, and become independent. When parents manage their children and communicate with them, they gain their trust and share everything together.
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