Lost and Found: How to Help Your Child Find Their Way Again

teenager feeling lost and sad in front of laptop at home

Suppose you’re on your way to a friend’s place for the first time. Then, suddenly, your GPS acts out, and you’re left on the road with no directions. You have no idea which turn or exit to take, it’s stressful and you’re starting to panic but there are cars all around you so you just go with whatever isn’t going to cause an accident.   

High school is a bit like that. It’s a maze filled with academic twists and turns, which can cause a pile-up when it comes to teenager’s overall well-being and potential future prospects. When children are unsupported, they’re left to walk blindfolded which as you can imagine, is pretty stressful and almost always leads to feelings of frustration and falling confidence. 

But that’s just the beginning. The real dangerous thing about letting teenagers go through high school without clear direction is the compounding domino effect. Without a roadmap to anchor them to a clear sense of direction, your child is more likely to struggle with motivation and more likely to disengage from their learning. It can set off a chain of unwanted problems for your child which might start off in high school but can really introduce real anxieties and problems for their future.  

At Kalibrate-Ed, we’re on a mission to partner with parents to actively combat this domino effect. Years 7 to 12 are crucial for your child, and there’s so much we can do together to help them find their way through high school – and in life.  

Knowing Where to Go Matters  

 There is so much evidence of the impacts of having a clear direction on academic outcomes for students both in high school and university. According to a 2018 Grattan Institute report, most school and first-year university students admit to feeling uncertain about their school direction and potential futures. The report indicates that one in five students is more likely to drop out of university than to complete their course.   

Group of five students in school

Twenty percent of those who dropped out share that they wouldn’t have enrolled in the first place if they had more information before they started. Having a clear sense of direction and being supported to pursue something they’re genuinely passionate about would have made it so much easier to build consistent motivation and self-confidence.  

It’s hard to do well in anything if you don’t have a clear sense of direction. For students, fumbling around or just letting the current take them wherever without a concrete destination creates more ominous problems. Things like leaving assignments to the last minute, fluctuating motivation levels, heightened anxieties from exams and schoolwork, or declines in academic results – or worse, complete lack of attendance. In 2018, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report found that around 1 in 4 Australian students didn’t attend school or were not invested in learning.  

Feeling lost in the learning experience can also push your child to the low depths of self-esteem, self-worth, and a crumbling personal identity. PISA found that about 6% of all the surveyed students reported feeling sad all the time 

Purpose-Driven Learning  

Now more than ever, children need a change in their learning pace. Standardised learning methods may not just cut it, especially with the increasing risk of losing their spark to having no clear direction. Schools and educators should be able to teach children to go beyond memorising a ton of information from textbooks for perfect exam scores.   

High school is a preparatory phase – like a dojo – to train teenagers for university pursuits and future careers. In 2019, the Australian Institute of Family Studies reported that students who received consistent career guidance in high school were 20% more likely to pursue tertiary education and had more apparent career aspirations. This illustrates what we see every day — that when children know where to go and how to get there, they’re super-charged to take on subsequent stages in school and life.  

Teenager and tutor working together to study.

Our holistic approach to development emphasises nurturing well-rounded children who excel in academics and life skills. We want to help you provide a clear direction for your child so they can foster better interpersonal relationships, more efficient time management, and a robust mental framework that’s resilient to cope with challenges and bounce back from setbacks.  

  1. Motivation Catalyst: Sometimes, the challenge lies in reigniting the spark and passion in your child to push them in the right direction. Our education strategists can help children find their drive, cultivate consistent and sustainable motivation, and build momentum. 
  2. Future Navigator: When the path to success seems too complex for your child, taking their first steps becomes a hurdle. Our education strategists create personalised roadmaps to guide their goals and monitor checkpoints, which will help them navigate their way into the NSW curriculum and rank high in their peer cohort. 
  3. Strategy Implementation: An education strategy is only as good as its execution. That’s why our education strategists go beyond theorising the perfect battle plan for your child by guiding them on each step and turn.  

Providing a clear direction is more than just charting a timeline and project plan to academic success. It’s also about understanding the emotional and non-academic elements that need to be clarified to allow children to travel through their unique journey with a navigation tool for a brighter future that they design. Schools and educators need to be able to adjust their methods and recognise the more considerable impacts of a clear sense of purpose for student success.   

It doesn’t have to begin in the four walls of the classroom. You can get a head start by recognising the struggles your child experiences and addressing where they’re feeling lost. We at Kalibrate-Ed are with you each step of the way.   

If you want to explore this for your child in high school, you can book a free brainstorming call at https://calendly.com/kalibrate-ed/lets-chat.