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Health & Fitness

Parents: Give your teen The Edge this summer!

Dr Leonaura Rhodes give some advice on how to use the summer break to help your teen achieve their full potential

As many families in the USA begin the long awaited summer break, our kids breathe a sigh of relief: two to three months of no school! For some the summer is highly scheduled: with camps and vacations. For others there are weeks of unstructured time to have fun and do you own thing.

We parents have spent the school year supporting our kids, worrying about them when things are not going so well and advocating for them. Most parents want their child be the best they can be or to become a Peak Performer!  Here I must urge a word of caution: working as a Pediatrician in the UK and as a Coach and Neurofeedback Provider in Fairfield County, I meet many parents who have unrealistic expectations for their child. It is vital that we parents keep in mind our child’s natural abilities: not everyone is wired to be a brain surgeon or the next  Andy Roddick or Serena Williams! Pushing a child beyond their abilities is harmful to their psychology. 

How to help your child be the best they can be:

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  • Have realistic expectations,
  • Be explicit with your expectations,
  • Help them learn executive function skills: teach how to plan, study and organize and then support them in doing this,
  • Teach them that multi-tasking is a myth: to be productive you MUST  focus on one thing at a time. Facebooking while studying does not improve productivity,
  • Encourage focused practice of the skills they need,
  • Make sure they have a healthy brain and body: diet, hydration, exercise, sleep, freedom from brain injury,
  • Be a good role model: show your child you have healthy habits and certain values such as hard work and honesty,
  • Support them where needed with a tutor or coach,
  • Ensure they have a healthy psychology.

It is this last point that many parents ignore! The recent success of the movie “Race to Nowhere” highlighted the harmful psychological effects of the high pressure world our teens live in. It is our child or teens psychology that ultimately determines their success. In medical school, I was surrounded by some of the UK’s brightest minds and witnessed several of the brightest of the bright, drop out due to psychological issues: stress, self doubt, depression and anxiety. I have no doubt if they had learned the tools for a positive psychology when they were teens, they would have survived the rigors of University. 

To read more on how to help your child get the Edge this summer visit:

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