How the Parents Can Help Adolescents to Overcome the Academic Failure? 8 Useful Tips that Parents Should Know.

Academic Failure is one of the major reasons for the ongoing problems of depression, anxiety, stress among the adolescents and also responsible for the increasing substance abuse disorder among the adolescents. So, it is a must to help the adolescents to overcome their academic failure and lead a productive life. Here the parents need to take the main role and work as the support system of the adolescents to cope up with their failures. The parents should help them to find out their strengths and also the weaknesses and motivate them to start a fresh start to reach their dream.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas Edison

What is Academic Failure?

Academic failure means that not successful in the field of academics- not able to achieve good grade or high percentage of marks in an examination. Actually, academic failure is different for different for different people- for example in case of a meritorious student it means getting less then 80% but for the mediocre student academic failure is getting less than 50% and for the low achievers it means being failed in the examination. So to help the adolescents to overcome the academic failure, the parents should know the expectations of the students from an examination in terms of marks or grade.

Impact of Academic Failure

The impact of the academic failure is negative and sometimes devasting, academic failure creates anxiety disorder, acute stress and depression among the adolescents who cannot achieve the academic success and sometimes they prefer to choose the path of social withdrawal and even the suicide. According to the Mental Health Report of World Health Organization published in 2022,

• Depression, anxiety and behavioural disorders are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents.
• Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds. It is seen that academic failure is one of the major reason of suicide among the students and that’s why the parents should be the support system of their children to overcome the academic failure.

Tips to Overcome the Academic Failure

Only the academic success is not the success in life, there are so many successful people who are not good at academics but good in other fields like Sachin Tendulkar, the global cricket legend or the International Boxing champion Mary com or the famous actress Deepika Padukone or even the great businessman Gautam Adani. Not only that failure in one examination of life cannot define the future of our life. So it is very important for the parents to help the children to overcome the academic failure. Some useful tips to overcome academic failure are as stated below.

Keep the Doors of Communication Open

When the adolescents are suffering from the academic failures, the parents should not scold them or criticize them or stop talking with them. The parents should try to talk with their children, try to know the status of their mental condition and try to console them. Yes, it is really tough for the parents but they should work here as the support system of their children to overcome the academic failure. Open communication is the most important tool that helps the ice to melt.

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Let the Children to Express their Emotions

To overcome the academic failure, the students need to express their emotions- their sadness, guilt, hopelessness, anger to their parents. Here the parents should hold their patience to handle with the emotions of their children, they should help the children to express their emotions and also allow the adolescents to Cry. Crying is the useful strategy to deal with our failures, losses and pain and to stable our mental state.

Explore Together Other Career Options

Academic success is not only the success, but we can also achieve success in many fields other than the academics. To help the adolescents to overcome the academic failure, both the parents and adolescents can explore other career options based upon the ability, interest and capacity of the adolescents. For example, if someone cannot get a good score in the final board examination but he\she is good in drawing and painting, then he\she can opt for choosing her \his career in Art colleges or Fashion Technology or in Animation industry and can surely be the most successful one. So, the academic failure is not a failure- it is the turning point of your life to a new direction.

Read More-How to deal with Parental pressure? 9 Effective Tips to do. (wingsofwishes.in)

Boost Up the Confidence Level

To overcome the academic failure the parents should try to boost the confidence level of their children so that they can try other options available to them or make their mind to prepare themselves to try again the same. If the adolescents get their confidence back, start to believe in themselves and determines to bring change in their life, no one can stop them to reach the goal.

Spend Quality Time Together

It is very essential to spend some quality time with the adolescents- gossip with them or watch a movie or take a walk in the nearby park etc. in order to help them to overcome the academic failure. Spending quality time with them will always help the parents to understand the mental health of the adolescents, their interests and capability and also their weaknesses. Thus, the parents will surely give them a right direction to beat the failure and grow.

Cut Down the Level of Expectations

To overcome the academic failure it is very important to cut down the level of expectations-for both the parents and also the children. Actually, the parents sometimes set too many expectations before their children that it is very tough for the children to fulfill those and some expectations are beyond the capacity of the children. Then the children automatically face the failures and feel depressed, hopeless if they cannot cope up with those failures. So the parents should not pressurize children for academic success and do not expect too much from them.

Read More-Healthy Relationship with teenagers-10 ways parents can do. (wingsofwishes.in)

Help in Reflection

The parents should help the adolescents in self-reflection, in self-compassion and also in self-realization so that the adolescents can achieve a growth mindset and can proceed further. Reflective thinking will help them to know about themselves in detail- their areas of interest, their capacity, their aims and goals and their dreams and thus help themselves to overcome the academic failure by choosing a new direction.

Accept the Failure and Make Plan for Future

To overcome the academic failure, it is important to accept the failures and learn the lessons from it- the parents should help the adolescents to accept the failures and overcome it with a growth mindset. The parents will explain to their children that academic failure is not the end of life- there are many more things to explore in life. It will be better for them to face their failures- overcome the academic failure and make a new plan for their future based upon their interest and ability.

Read More-10 Major Problems of Adolescents And Their Solutions. (wingsofwishes.in)

Words from Wingsofwishes.in

The old proverb “Failures are the Pillars of Success” always gives us the lesson to accept our failures, keep in mind the life lessons from that failure and move on to a better opportunity, better future. Yes, it is very tough for the students to overcome the academic failure and take a new start. So the parents will help their children to cope with the academic failure through open communication, spending quality time, self-reflection and also by exploring other career options. In extreme cases of sadness, depression , one can take the help of psychiatrists or counselors.

References

1.How to Overcome Failure: 10 Steps – wikiHow

2.How to Overcome Failure: 9 Powerful Habits (positivityblog.com)

3.How to Cope with Academic Failure: 15 Steps (with Pictures) (wikihow.com)

4.How to Deal With Academic Failure in Eight Steps (Starting By Not Calling It Failure) — The Attic On Eighth

5.8 Steps To Overcome Failure (With Resilience-Building Tips) | Indeed.com