Advice: Preparing Teens for University

For teens who have never had to work a washing machine, cook a meal or change a bed sheet, the concept of moving overseas and living independently from their families can be quite daunting, not to mention a steep learning curve in how to take care of oneself! WSA offers some friendly words of wisdom to parents to help them prepare their 18 year old for leaving home and surviving life at University.

- Teach them about money and how to budget. Life in the UAE tends to spoil our children and many kids expect to maintain the same standards of living on their student allowance, which often isn’t possible.

It is a parental responsibility to teach them that a budget is fixed and any spending over and above that has to come from their pockets, whether from a part time job or from their savings.

A good tip from one parent is to pre-order their food online “As students seem to spend their money on socialising it is a good idea to give them some of their budget in a supermarket shop which you can order online and have delivered every week anywhere in the world.”

- Get the school involved in educating them. Some schools will offer specific sessions in PHSE on surviving the first few weeks at university, financial planning and budgeting, personal safety, cooking, home skills, DIY skills and even changing a car tyre!

If your school doesn’t offer it, why not suggest it at the next parent teacher meet?

- Teach them to handle their freedom carefully. If they have been brought up in the UAE they will already have experienced many different cultures, which makes them far much more mature, well rounded and culturally aware.

However, coming from a relatively ‘safe’ society, they can be quite immature in certain areas and not as ‘streetwise’ as their classmates at Uni. For example, alcohol is a big part of the University experience. Where in the UAE, the laws have meant that drinking alcohol before they reach 21 is illegal, when they get to a country where the legal age is 18, they have a lot more freedom to experience this element of University life. Teach them to handle it carefully and sensibly.

- Train them in the kitchen. For every teenager who is a capable cook, there are ten others that have never boiled an egg!

Lets face it, a student will inevitably live on noodles, pasta and pizzas for most of the time but it’s important to educate them on the benefits of eating healthy for rest of the time, and even more importantly, to teach them the skills to whip up a healthy, balanced meal at least a couple of times a week. Well before they fly the nest, start teaching your teen the basics of cooking for one, such as how to prepare staple meals like spaghetti bolognese, jacket potatoes, omelette, chicken curry and even beans on toast!

- Encourage independence early on. Your child is leaving home and you as a parent are feeling a mixture of anxiety, trepidation and temptation to continue to run every area of his life. He (or she) needs to be aware that now is the time for them to take responsibility for managing his own life, and to help with this you must begin to transfer responsibility to him in small steps before he leaves for University, so he is better prepared for life away from home.

Encourage him to take risks, and let him deal with the emotions and other challenges that life at University will bring.