They begin refusing help from their parents and don t want them along when they re with friends. Second, parents roles begin changing, too, in order to allow for their children s self-identity development. While parents continue to offer support and love, they begin stepping back a little in all aspects of their children s lives in order to show their respect for their children s growing independence. Parents must begin to let adolescents make their own choices good and bad and have them take responsibility for their actions and decisions. The decline in parent involvement in middle and high school years also can be attributed to changes in attitude.
Many parents tend to think the same way.
As kids grow, it becomes a challenge for some parents to remain involved in their child s lives at home, let alone at school. As children begin to adjust to their new school environments and meet the challenges of their new courses, parents may have less understanding of the work their kids are doing in school. Parents may feel unable to help with homework and hesitate to discuss curriculum issues with teachers, resulting in their becoming less involved overall. Reversing the trend Research has shown that those middle and high schools that help families adjust to this transition show higher student achievement, higher graduation rates, and have more students admitted to colleges. A 1999 study by U.S. News and World Report and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago assessed 1,053 high schools in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States.