Runaway Prevention Tips for Parents

Pay Attention

When your children are talking to you, listen. Don’t just nod your head while you are watching television or reading the paper. Don’t just pretend to listen to them.

Give respect

Acknowledge and support your children’s struggle to grow to maturity. Understand. Try to sympathize with what your kids are going through. Look at life—at least occasionally—from their point of view. Remember that when you were their age, your ideas seemed to make sense to you.

Don’t Lecture

All children hate to be lectured to, especially teenagers. Kids respond to clear information and direction, most of all when they know the questions they ask will be answered.

Don’t Label

Throwing of useless labels will only confuse the real issues that you wish to address.

Discuss Feelings

Talk to your children about what you feel and allow your children to talk about their feelings too.

Create Responsibility

Give your children choices, not orders. Help them to understand the consequences of their actions.

Positive Praise

Describe your child’s positive and negative behavior and how it affects others. Be specific and give praise to reward good behavior. Do this at least as often (if not more so) as you criticize behavior that you do not like.

Stop Hassling

Asking your child too many questions only shuts off information. Give them the opportunity to volunteer their thoughts and feelings, while you show sincere interest.

Don’t Always Give the Answers

You want your children to be able to find their own answers or solutions to problems. You can help this by not giving them the answers all of the time.

Use Team Work

Work together with your child to lay out the problem then work together to find a mutually agreeable solution.

The Key Issue

You must tell your child that, NO MATTER WHAT, you will always love them.