10 things to teach your teenager before they leave home

BEFORE you know it, your teenager will leave home. Take the opportunity now to teach your teenager some critical life skills like laundry, how to shop for groceries and some basic first aid. Here are some things every teenager should know before leaving home.

1. Asking for what you need

Before teens launch from home, they should learn to start being their own advocates. If your teen can understand their own needs, emotions, learn to speak up, and act to ensure that their needs are met, they will have more of a sense of control over their circumstances and gain selfconfidence in their ability to make good decisions for themselves.

An easy way to help your teenager develop this skill can be teaching them to interact with any individual they are likely to associate with and encouraging them to take the lead.

2. Basic first aid

Your teenager should know a few health basics so they do not have to call you for every sniffle. This is the time to teach them how to deal with a minor burn, fever, sprain or common cold.

Discuss with them more serious symptoms and when they should seek medical assistance. You could ask your primary care doctor for other symptoms of an emergency.

3. How to get from one place to another independently

Your college student will need to travel alone for the first time, navigate a city system or find a building on an unfamiliar campus. Set your teen loose in high school, and have them learn to get to places on their own.

Ask them to give you directions describing how to get somewhere. Ask your teen to drive when you go out. Show them how to use a navigating app (like Google Maps or Transit).

4. When and how to make a phone call

Picking up the phone and making an appointment instead of relying on you to do it is a necessary skill. By the time your teenager is a junior or senior in high school, they should do the important stuff for themselves — doctor’s appointments, haircuts, oil changes — the kinds of appointments they will need to make at college and beyond. It’s a vital skill.

Go over basics such as identifying yourself, speaking slowly and clearly, using proper phone etiquette and being an attentive listener.

5. How to do laundry

Make sure your teenager can do laundry before they are on their own. Help your teenager out a few times, then step back and here’s the hard part — do not step back in.

6. What to do in an emergency

A few years ago, two college roommates called their parents, not the fire department when their house caught on fire. We need to help our teenagers understand what to do in a lifethreatening emergency.

Teenagers should also know how to handle more basic home emergencies, which, while not life threatening, could cause serious damage

7. Communications etiquette

Your teen needs to know how to write an appropriate email, with correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. Teens should also be able to write a formal letter, including a cover letter. They should also know how and when to write a thank you note.

In addition, they should remember that human contact still matters and that there are some situations where people still need to discuss things face-to-face

8. Knowing how (and when) to dress appropriately

With limited experience in professional settings, many teens do not understand the importance of dressing appropriately for certain adult-world interactions. In these kinds of situations, teenagers should dress like they believe the adults will be dressed.

When in doubt, err on the conservative side. If business casual is the designated dress code, for men that means an ironed, button-down shirt, dark pants, and polished dress shoes.

Young women should go with a tailored dress, a skirt (not too short) and blouse, or tailored pants and a button-down shirt.

9. Cooking and grocery shopping

Before they leave home, show your teenager a few cooking basics to help them save money and prepare healthy meals. Teach them how to shop, compare prices, and read labels.

Make up a list of a few simple meals, and cook them together. Go over food safety basics, such as how to handle raw meat and clean utensils and counters.

10. Basic personal safety

Lastly, teach teenagers how to be cautious of their surroundings and start preparing them now for daily safety. Remind your teenager not to walk around campus or a big city texting or with earphones in.

Teenagers should also walk with others at night, including to and from the library or wherever else. They should be mindful of busy roads and avoid shotrtcuts.