“We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future”, Franklin D Roosevelt once said. Adult involvement during young adulthood can be a powerful tool in setting young people on the right track.

It isn’t easy being a young adult. Young adulthood is a time when you need to make important life decisions while you still figure out who you are and what you want from life. It is for this reason that an adult presence can make a significant impact in a young person’s life.

Stay involved and genuinely interested

Youth motivational speaker Jeff Yalden believes teens whose parents stay involved in their lives generally make better life decisions and tend to stay out of trouble. Parent involvement has the added bonus that the young adult knows where to turn to for help. He or she believes parent involvement is directly linked to self-esteem.

Give help and guidance in career planning

Deciding on a career can be very daunting. Assisting in every possible way to give a young person access to all the resources and information needed to make a well-considered, informed decision on a career is a very valuable way of helping him or her prepare for the future. Don’t just be a taxi service; talk through all the options and choices to help them find clarity and decide on a course of action.

Have high expectations

Having high but achievable expectations motivates a young person to be responsible and set goals for the future. This should be coupled with belief in the young person’s abilities to achieve these aims. Therefore, express this belief often and sincerely. Then, when you have high but achievable expectations of them, you set the bar high and you tell them they can reach their dreams.

Sources
www.careerswales.com
www.jeffyaldenblog.com
www.ncwd-youth.info
www.ncjrs.gov
www.quotationspage.com
www.theepochtimes.com

(Revised by M van Deventer)