My Ninth Grade Students Wish Parents Understood THIS About First Year of High School

As a high school English teacher, I think a lot about how to help others communicate more effectively. So, last spring, as I was discussing with my ninth graders how much they’d changed since August in all the ways, I found myself also thinking of their parents.

Caregivers often ask me about these teenage-changes with a certain ringing-of-hands. It’s hard, they tell me, to convince their newly-minted high schooler to explain what they want and need, especially when it comes to their involvem...