When your teen is given detention, suspension or is sent to the principal’s office, you should read it as it is meant to be read: your teen has been given a consequence for his/her poor choices at school. What you’ll need to do is threefold:
- Talk to the school guidance counselor and get the straight scoop on what happened and why your teen has this consequence.
- Talk to your teen about the incident. Teach him/her to respect the authority the school has and expect that your teen will follow through with the consequence. Help your teen gain an understanding of what they’ve done wrong and how to prevent it from happening again by coming up with a plan to avoid the wrong-doing the next time.
- Give your teen a clean slate and assure him/her that you are there for him/her by dropping it and not nagging about the incident long after it is over. Once the consequence is paid, it’s time to start anew.
If school discipline is an on-going problem for your teen, call into the guidance office and meet with someone who can help. Be as proactive as you can and listen to what others feel may be the problem.
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