Teens need a lot of time socializing in order to develop as an individual and have strong sense of well-being. If your teen is an online student, making sure your student continues to socialize with others is something you’ll want to keep an eye on. In fact, your teen’s academic achievement could be tied to whether or not you help them maintain social connections while studying online.
Academic Achievement & Socialization
When students have a healthy social life, their confidence tends to increase. Confidence is a cornerstone for achievement for some students. Certainly, every student is an individual, and your child might need more or fewer social opportunities than another. Actually, in any given family, one sibling might need more or fewer social opportunities than another! This means that how much involvement your children need might vary, but one thing remains the same: All teens need to be involved in socialization in order to ensure they have the confidence and social skills necessary to be successful students and, later, adults. As an online school who wants the best for our students, Excel High School recommends these five options to help you make sure your teens are getting the socialization they need for their academic and mental well-being.
Youth Community Groups or Clubs
Plenty of organizations give children and teens a chance to work together and socialize. You have plenty of choices when it comes to the types of group that might be best for your unique teen:
- • The Boy Scouts of America
- • The Girl Scouts
- • 4-H
- • Civil Air Patrol cadets
- • Police Explorers
- • Boys & Girls Clubs
- • Kiwanis Builders Club
- • A church youth group
Each of these groups will provide your child with a chance to develop as individuals while a part of a group.
Extracurricular Activities
You can check with your local school district to see what their policies are about students from the community engaging in extracurricular activities. Some states require schools to allow students from their community to participate in extracurriculars regardless of enrollment in the local school district. However, even if this isn’t the right option for you, your child can still participate in extracurriculars.
They can join the community youth orchestra, participate in community theater, or join the parks department sports teams.
Join Online Groups
Online socializing is a wonderful way for your students to stay connected with their peers. Whether they’re playing games online and connecting via Discord or staying connected with friends through Facetime, the internet has lots of options for your teen.
Excel High School offers opportunities for their students to connect through the online Conversation Club for middle school and High School Hangout sessions for older students. Students get to visit with each other, learn about themselves, and get to know the staff of their online school.
Volunteer Service & Community Events
When your student volunteers at an animal shelter or a food bank, they’re learning important life skills, but they’re also developing a part of their character as well. Doing something for others without an immediate and obvious benefit for themselves is a great way to help your teen gain a greater appreciation for how the world works and positive self-esteem. Your teen can volunteer at a youth center and inspire younger kids or your entire family can work together toward a common goal.
Family Time
Intentional time together as a family is another easy way to make sure your student is socializing. It might not seem like it, but experts say that the benefit of intentional family time like sitting down together for a meal is greater self-esteem and self-confidence. Generally speaking, teens who eat dinner with their families tend to have less stress and feel that their parents know them better than teens whose families do not sit down to a meal together. The eating together isn’t the key though. It’s the conversations that occur around the dinner table that are important.
You can also plan family game nights, special weekly family outings, or projects that your family can work on as a team. Whatever works best for your family, spending time together to get to know each other and stay connected is the key to helping your teens grow to be the best version of themselves and live happy, healthy lives.
About Excel High School
Excel High School in an accredited online school that offers many different academic program options for student grade 6 through graduation. Our fully online, self-paced programs fit around your family’s schedule, and our support team is here help you along the way. If you’re not already a student with Excel High School but would like to learn more, feel free to check out our programs on our website. Still got questions? Feel free to reach out to us by text at 952-465-3700 or call us at 800-620-3844. Our staff will be happy to answer any questions you have and guide you to the best program for your individual needs.
