Four Ways Your Teen Can Thrive
Success means something different to each student, and as a parent, you likely have unique goals for your child. Still, there are basic steps that each high schooler can take to help themselves grow and make progress on any of their goals.
Here are 4 things your teen can do in order to thrive academically and personally.
- Choose friends wisely. Friends can be a great influence in what you do inside and outside the classroom. Your teen may choose to get acquainted with students or people who they are more comfortable and familiar with, but be sure to encourage them to consider how each of their friends positively or negatively affects them and make necessary changes.
- Be positive in the face of challenges. While students may not always have control of the challenges they face, they can control how they handle them. If they find a subject challenging, suggest that they give more attention to it. Reading more and doing written exercises regularly with friends regularly can be a step in the right direction.
- Be responsible. Although parents and teachers should always be aware of a student’s academic progress, high schoolers are expected to be on top of their grades, assignments, and projects. If they have worked hard and put in the necessary effort, they will see the results they desire.
- Learn how to be self-reliant. The sooner your teen learns to stop being too dependent on you, their friends, or even teachers, the better off they will be. Self-starters are applauded in our society and it is necessary to be self-motivated in order to succeed in college and beyond.
Summit Academy North High School has a wide variety of resources to help our students achieve their goals. We encourage you to help them take advantage of all our school offers and to reach out to us. As always, it is our mission to make each and every year a successful one for our students.
Talking to your Teen about Politics
People say that there are 2 subjects which can never be agreed on, and that is religion and politics. The debate can go on and on and never has a clear winner. But is it necessary to involve your teen on the issues concerning politics?
Strong Foundation of Political Stand
Getting your teen involved in issues concerning politics is beneficial for a number of reasons. Current events are relevant in the foundation of a teens’ political belief system and they will be able to express those beliefs once they reach voting age. The reality of American politics may seem disheartening at times, but there is no good in shielding your teen from these realities. Doing so will leave them ignorant and uneducated.
Moral Guidance and Political Issues
The world does not revolve around the four walls of your home or the safety of our school. Political leaders across the country and around the globe are faced with issues that may have a great impact on your teen’s life now or as an adult. Allowing your teen to think independently, get involved, and freely express personal opinions is necessary in choosing the best candidates when they are able to vote. Teach your teen early that they have a moral obligation to be well informed when voting.
Respectfully Agree to Disagree
Each person will always have a their own principles and values in life. Still, the most important lesson in talking to your teen about politics is that everyone deserves to be heard no matter what they believe in. Mutual respect can only be achieve when everyone has a voice while remembering that our ears can be just as powerful.
Recognizing Bullying
The numbers of teens who self-inflict pain and commit suicide have become alarming. While our schools have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to bullying, we can only truly fight against it when both parents, students, and staff identify promptly address any instances of bullying encountered. This brings up an essential question: how do you know if your child is being bullied or simply struggling with a conflict?
Knowing the Difference
- Bullying is when a person or group of persons intentionally inflicts pain or harm to another individual or group. This problem has become even more rampant nowadays with cyber bullying. The harm comes in many forms such as physical, emotional, mental, and psychological. In bullying, aggressive behavior is deliberately directed to provoke a target and to ultimately cause pain, harassment, or humiliation. One incident of bullying alone may cause disparaging damage to a person or group but this behavior can occur repeatedly, causing deep pain and problems.
- Conflict arises when 2 or more individuals are struggling due to differences in desires or goals. Conflict is common and can naturally happen due to interaction with a sibling or classmate every day. When you don’t agree on things you want or you have a different way of solving a problem or dealing with issues, a conflict may arise because you don’t share the same point of views. You can even take this as a simple disagreement on a subject that you both feel strongly about something but have opposing viewpoints.
Put simply, if your high schooler is showing signs of mental, physical, or emotional harm in any way, they are more than likely experiencing some form of bullying.
Be Watchful
We all share the responsibility of recognizing situations in which students are being bullied. The teachers, students, and staff of Summit Academy North High School are constantly reminded to handle any incidents of bullying swiftly. As parents, it is our hope that you be our eyes and ears in the home. Remember, only together can we successfully ensure that our school is a safe and enjoyable place for all students.
Staying Consistent with your Routine
Year after year, you write down your New Year resolutions but you never get close to achieving something or finishing your goal. What happens? Surprisingly, it has little to do with a lack of commitment, and everything to do with a lack of routine.
Consistently Inconsistent
Consistency in your teen’s routine must be observed in order to finish any goal you have started. True, things do come up from time to time that you have no control over. In reality, however, those times are less frequent than we imagine.
The trick is to stay motivated and force yourself and your kids to stick to the goals they have set on a consistent basis. Some things that can help accomplish this include:
- Make a habit out of your morning daily routine.
- Take on responsibility and focus.
- Never procrastinate on time sensitive assignments.
- Don’t overthink your goals.
- Don’t let your mood dictate your day.
- Learn to give yourself a break.
- Play your favorite music to motivate you.
- Keep a positive outlook in life.
- Be realistic with your goals.
- Set regular reminders for everyone in the home.
Consistency means Progress
Simply making progress towards a goal can be as rewarding as achieving it. Teaching your high schooler consistency is something that will translate into every area of their life and make them more likely to accomplish anything they set out to do.
How To Identify Signs Of Depression In Your Teen
Although millions of teens suffer from depression, relatively few are properly diagnosed or getting the right treatment. Mood changes and negative attitudes are often looked at as “typical teen” behavior, making it difficult for adults to immediately recognize the signs of depression in high school students. Still, there are specific ways to tell whether or not your child may suffer from depression.
Below are 5 things that can indicate depression in your teenager.
- Lack of concentration and energy – Teens are normally vigorous and energetic. You need to be concerned if you happen to see a sudden drop or loss of these traits in your teen.
- Mood swings- A bubbly disposition that suddenly turns into a sullen, irritable, and short-tempered mood could mean something is wrong.
- Changes in sleeping pattern- Repeated change in sleeping habits resulting to lack of sleep or too much of it may also indicate depression.
- Physical changes and changes in appetite- A healthy teen that develops sudden pains, aches, or eating disorders but is unresponsive to medication or treatment could be a sign of an emotional or mental change that should be addressed.
- Loss of will and suicidal thoughts – Recognizing this involves doing some digging. Talk to your teen and pay attention to any thoughts or phrases in which they put themselves down or seem to indicate a sense of worthlessness. If you suspect there is a problem, get in touch with a mental health professional right away.
Help is Available
Depression is an illness that needs serious attention and it’s not something to be ashamed of. Be observant and sensitive to the signs of depression in your teens and seek professional help immediately.
Summit Academy Gets a Makeover
Things are looking better than ever for Summit Academy.
And now, the world will know it.
It’s with great enthusiasm that we introduce the new-and-improved Summit Academy logo. The crown jewel of our recent rebranding efforts, the logo thoughtfully symbolizes our mission to help students reach the peak of their potential.
The first thing you’ll notice about the logo is that it resembles the top of a mountain. But if you study a little more closely, you’ll notice it also bears the look-and-feel of a maze. This creative element is meant to express how Summit Academy leads students upward through the various forks in the road they will encounter during their education.
The new logo is just one of component of our sweeping image transformation. Here are a few other changes we’re rolling out as we bring Summit Academy into the future.
Drop the Dash: Say goodbye to that annoying little dash. To eliminate any confusion about where to find us online, we changed our website address from “summit-academy.com” to “summitacademy.com”. The new URL is here to stay, so be sure to update your bookmark!
New Website: In addition to “dropping the dash,” we completely overhauled the content, navigation and look-and-feel of our website. These changes will help students and parents find the information they’re looking for quickly and easily. And since the new site scales seamlessly across any device, you’ll have the same experience navigating summitacademy.com on your smartphone or tablet as you would on your laptop.
New Athletic Logo: Beyond changing our school logo, we also transformed the face of our athletic program. Featuring spikes, a new color scheme and an aggressive eye that radiates intensity, the new logo is bolder, tougher and better reflective of our dragon mascot. If you want to beat Summit Academy, you’ve got to go through our new logo!
Be sure to let us know what you think of our new logos and website on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #newyearnewsummit.