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From Our House to Yours:
Handling Free Time This Summer
Summer often means that there is less tension at
home. Schedules are looser, and there are no
grade cards to argue about! But summer has
it’s share of challenges for parents and teens.
Renegotiate Rules.
Teens often feel that because they are out of school
they should be able to stay up late, sleep in and
relax. Parents often don’t feel the same!
We suggest you sit down with your teen and come up
with “summer rules.” Maybe it’s okay to stay
up an hour or two later, but not all night.
You may let your teen get up an hour or two later,
but not sleep until noon. Also, think about
curfew, time out with friends and other privileges.
Remember, privileges and responsibilities go
together. If your teen gets new freedom, make
sure there is some new responsibility (mowing the
lawn, doing laundry) to go with it.
Money, money, money.
More free time means more time out and about with
friends. For most teens, this means spending
money. Discuss with your teen how he or she
can earn some more spending money. This might
be a summer job for older teens. For younger
teens, find a way to earn cash doing odd jobs for
you or neighbors.
Keep some structure.
Looser summer schedules can be a welcome break from
the school year routine. Teens, however,
especially those who are anxious or impulsive,
really need consistent schedules and rules.
Dinner together, worship on Sunday, family game
night on Friday: whatever your family likes to
do, make sure there is an anchor every week, or even
every day, that your teen can count on.
Relax.
Teens and families need down time, too. Don’t
forget to keep a balance between scheduled
activities and lazy, hang around time. You and
your teen can sit down and talk about the balance.
It can take time and some trial and error to figure
it out, so keep trying!
Some Activities and Where To Find Them
¨ Summer
reading programs-Columbus Libraries
¨ Day
camps-Columbus Parks and Recreation
¨ Art
classes-Godman Guild
¨ Sport
camps-Silesian Boys Club
¨ Drop
in activities-City Year
¨ Paid
jobs-Urban League
¨ Volunteer
jobs-First Link
“From Our House To Yours” is written by Lara Palay,
LISW and Team Leader of the Huckleberry House Family
Support Program. |
