∑ Health problems. Make sure that you have your teenager examined by a physician as soon as possible.

 

∑ Depression. If your teen is severely depressed, he or she won't care about their grades anymore. This can also be a cry for help and your teenager may be considering suicide. Again, it's imperative that you have your child examined.

 

∑ Peer pressure. Your teen's not likely to excel if most of his friends are failing.

 

∑ Factors that may be affecting the amount of sleep he or she is getting. Has he or she started a new job or started working longer hours? A consistent sleep pattern is important for maintaining good grades.

 

∑ Relationship issues. If your teenager has experienced a recent break-up, most likely every aspect of his or her life will be affected for awhile. The same is true if your teen has recently fallen in love.

 

∑ Problems at home. If there has been a divorce or a death in the family, your teen might view grades as trivial. Again, counseling might be required. In most cases, slumping grades are a symptom of a more serious problem.

 

Don't ignore the signs! Talk to your teen and then proceed to get him or her the help that might be needed.

 

Hana C.

Pittsburgh, PA

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Why do teens lose motivation?              Reply to this Comment After 25 years as a teacher, youthworker and motivational speaker (and more importantly, 17 as a parent!) I've discovered that there are 2 basic reasons why teens' grades slump. Neither of them relate to lack of brains or lack of ability. In fact, the 2 major factors are - lack of motivation and lack of direction. Your response to these factors is crucial, because believe it or not, YOU are still the most important and influential person in your child's life! There are many factors that can influence motivation - for some in-depth info on this check out www.asktheteacher.com.au/better_grades_article.htm. I explore the 6 major reasons why kids lose their motivation. Teens' grades also slump when they lose focus on the reason they're studying to begin with. Why are they doing this? Where's it all leading? Most teens aren't sure where they're heading career-wise. The important thing to communicate to them is that better grades = more options. Even if they don't have a career plan, working hard and scoring good grades opens up more options for their future - and that's a good thing!                By:  jezbots        Posted: Aug 07 2009 Helping your teens find direction              Reply to this Comment The best thing you can do is help your teen to explore some options for their future. That could mean arranging work experience, meeting with the school careers counsellor, even doing a test like the Myers-Briggs test online to help them discover more about their personality type and possible career paths that may suit them. Careers days and college open days are also great opportunities. Even if they decide against particular careers it is helping them find out what they do and don't like... which narrows down the list!                By:  jezbots        Posted: Aug 07 2009

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