Parenting Tip: Three ideas to encourage teens to write

A new school semester is set to begin in a week or so. That means more English classes and more essays. What do you do if your teen doesn’t like to write?

I recommend you encourage them to knock the cobwebs off their pens during the remainder of the holidays and then reward them for their efforts. Here are a few writing ideas to prep them for the new semester:

1. Buy them journals. They can write as little or as much as they wish. They can even doodle in bullet journals. Recording personal thoughts can serve two purposes: it’s a form of writing and any writing is good (except maybe graffiti), and it can help them blow off steam that holidays sometime create. I highly recommend you do not read their journals. Teens need their privacy.
2. Offer vacation perks. When my kids were teens, our family as a whole would decide over the Christmas holidays where we’d take our big vacation the following year. Once we decided on a place, say St. Augustine, Florida, we’d ask the kids to write short essays on what they wanted to do there. That year, one wrote about climbing to the top of the lighthouse and the other wrote about Fort Castillo de San Marcos. Again, this exercise accomplished two purposes: they were writing, and they learned a little bit about where they were visiting. When we arrived at the sites, we gave the kids money to spend on souvenirs.
3. Rally them to create gifts. Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it. Encourage teens to ramp their homemade card creations to a higher level. Encourage them to really show their love to Grandma by adding poetry, limericks, and acrostics (where certain letters in each line form a word or words) to their cards. They can even tuck in a handwritten letter. They’ll get some writing practice, and Grandma will be amazed at their thoughtfulness. Be sure to gift them something special for their handiwork.

Writing should be fun, not a chore. I’ve found that rewards are great motivators for those who would rather have a cavity filled than write. 

Let’s help each other. What has worked for you in the past that’s helped your teen embrace writing? Please comment below.