Academic Problems and Skills

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Validate their feelings instead of rushing to fix the problem so they feel heard and can deescalate.

Encourage basic daily routines for sleep, diet, and exercise to improve focus and manageability.

Schedule regular check-ins to monitor progress and discuss future plans to prevent rumination.

It’s October, and we’re halfway through the semester—that time of year when college students realize those bad grades actually need to get fixed since there’s just not that much time remaining. And the rest goes something like this…

Kids have a meltdown.

Parents jump in to solve the problem.

Kids ignore solutions.

Look, maybe their social life is going too well, and school wasn’t a priority. They could have underlying anxiety or depression. Maybe classwork and tests crept up on them since organization and planning were something they thought they’d attend to “later.” Whatever the headwinds, here are the evidence-based strategies I recommend parents use to counterbalance the chaos.

1. Listen and Reflect

Most students don’t need advice or solutions. They need to share how badly they feel. This goes against our parental instincts—solve the problem and eradicate their pain. The problem is, this doesn’t solve the real problem. They already know what to do; they’re just struggling to do it because of some other underlying issue. This is where hard, messy lessons occur. Instead, validate how........

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